Jesus was tempted so that means he sinned – LIE

Ice cream.

There I said it. It’s out there landing squarely on your mind. I’ve planted the seed of ice cream in your thoughts. Now what?

Unless you’re lactose intolerant you may have read the first two words of this devotion, put it down and walked immediately to your freezer and consumed a half gallon of Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough. If so, you have a problem and need to seek professional help.

I’ll admit…I wrote those two words to tempt you. Yes, that’s right! A pastor is tempting people, but I must admit, I’m tempted now. I can visualize that half-eaten container of Moose Tracks hiding in the back of the second shelf of my freezer. I know there’s a Klondike Bar in my church office break room frig that nobody’s claimed for weeks so the ownership rights have expired.

The line between temptation and sin is a thin one.

Temptation is suggestion. Sin is action.

I suggested a culinary delight and you immediately had three choices: ignore it, think about it, or do it.

In Matthew 4:1-11, Satan tempted Jesus in the desert with bread, power and property. Jesus ignored it, choosing not to think about it (dwell on it) or act upon it. It’s a LIE to believe Jesus sinned because he was tempted! Satan thought since God came in human flesh that he would collapse to human temptations. Not so.

Jesus showed Satan (and us) that God does not succumb to sin. You have just as much ability to overcome temptation as Jesus did on this earth. In 1 Corinthians 10:13, Paul wrote that all temptations are common to all mankind and God always gives us a way out.

In Matthew 5:27-30, the people of Jesus’ time thought that only action committed a sin (committing adultery), but Jesus said thinking about sin was sin (dwelling on adultery). So there is such a thing as thought crimes. Even that Jesus never did.

Jesus did not sin because he was tempted. I want to encourage you that just because you’re tempted, you have not sinned. Satan bombards you with suggestions and thoughts because he knows your weakness. Once he sees there’s no way to successfully plant that thought in your mind, he backs off. Scripture (truth) acts much like a bug repellant for Satan.

Jesus did not sin and he showed us how to keep from sinning. So celebrate. Maybe have some ice cream. (I did it again, didn’t I?).