Daily PresenceSample

At way too young of age my friends and I discovered a stash of inappropriate magazines. The temptation for some red-blooded pre-teens was overwhelming, sending us into a full-fledged investigation. Returning to this stash became a regular activity for us and the repercussions in our minds and spilling into our actions were beginning to sow devastating consequences. Not long after this I desperately decided to give my heart to Jesus. Knowing this was a huge temptation for me, I decided to wage war. Luckily for me, someone had already moved their stash.

But my battle wasn’t finished. Not long after this first tussle with temptation, I started working on the landscaping team of a baseball complex. One day I casually walked into the shop to use the bathroom and sitting on the back of the toilet was a magazine with “PLAYBOY” across the top. Instantly, I was assaulted with past images and affections, drowning in the temptation to open the magazine and look. That was the first time I resisted this form of temptation in my life. I didn’t look. Even today, I can feel a sense of spiritual pride well up in me some twenty-five years later because I decided not to do what had previously gotten me into trouble.

At the very beginning of 1 Kings, we see David nearing the end of his life and being assigned a “beautiful young virgin to care for him.” Remember what happened last time he was in this position? But what did David do this time? 1 Kings 1:4 tells us with intentionality, “The girl was very beautiful, and she looked after the king and took care of him. But the king had no sexual relations with her.”

David didn’t look. In 1 Kings 3, David is recounted as faithful, righteous, and upright in heart. Yes, the same David from 2 Samuel 11. David changed the entire narrative of his life with a simple decision, “I’m not going to fall into this again.”

I don’t know what your temptation is, but I do know this, you can rewrite the narrative. It may have gotten you yesterday, but you can beat it today, and when you do, you’ll build up spiritual strength by the Spirit of God to rewrite your story to one of faithfulness. Stay in the fight! There’s victory ahead.