Pure Joy: 7 Devotions in the Book of JamesSample

Owning Up

Let no one say when he is tempted, "I am being tempted by God," for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one. But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death. JAMES 1:13-15 ESV

When Mom pops into the playroom to see why things are getting dangerously quiet, well, sometimes there is trouble. Maybe there’s a broken toy, a munched-up sack of cookies, or some other kind of merry mischief. But even before Mom can raise a brow, one child will invariably say, “She did it.” Or, “It was his idea!”

These kinds of scenarios among kids or adults are as common as rain and as old as the Garden of Eden. That is, pointing at someone else when it comes to our own wrongdoing. We can read about the same spiritual conundrum in the opening chapters of the Bible: “He [Adam] said, ‘I heard You in the garden and I was afraid because I was naked. And I hid.’ God said, ‘Who told you that you were naked? Did you eat from that tree I told you not to eat from?’ The Man said, ‘The Woman You gave me as a companion, she gave me fruit from the tree, and, yes, I ate it.’ God said to the Woman, ‘What is this that you’ve done?’ ‘The serpent seduced me,’ she said, ‘and I ate’” (Genesis 3:10–13 The Message).

Okay, so Adam blamed Eve, and Eve blamed the serpent. So, at whom do we point our fingers? Do we sometimes blame God for our sin or the consequences of it? For as it says in James, God does not tempt us. But the good news is that we can confess to the Lord, and forgiveness is both free and freeing! In addition, we can change with the power of the Holy Spirit. What a promise we see in the book of Titus: “He saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit” (3:5 ESV).

A promise, indeed!

Jesus, I confess that I have sinned. Please forgive me and help me to flee from sin. Amen.