Avenues to sin

 Greetings to you all in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ,

     Matthew 4:2-4 says, “And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterward an hungred.  And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread.  But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.”

     “If it’s not broken, don’t fix it.”  Maybe you have heard of that expression.  Another expression goes, “Leave well enough alone.”  I used to like to take things apart especially those things that were broken and that I had no intention of fixing.  I just wanted to see what was inside of them.  Broken computers are really fun to dismantle with all of he circuit boards and chips on them.  I would have a box of little screws left at the end.

     Satan has his methods of working and he has not changed them from the beginning.  I can imagine him saying,  “It worked in the garden so I will keep on using it because it still works today.  Satan repeated the same course of action in the temptation of the Lord Jesus Christ as seen in the above passage and again in Luke chapter four.  The Apostle John mentions in in First John chapter two and it is the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life.  Many people in the world today do not believe that Satan exists or tha hell exists or that God would send someone to eternal punishment.  In other words, they don’t believe the Biblical content.  What people believe doesn’t change the facts.  When  you read the rest of the account in the above passage, you see all three actions as stated by John in full action.  If you reflect in your own life you will see the same three ways or avenues of temptation.  We have long had an expression in our culture that goes, “If it feels good, do it.”  Covetousness begins in the mind after you “see” something you want and you begin to plan how you can get it.  When Aachan saw the spoils of war, he wanted them and took them and buried them in the floor of his tent.  The pride of life is no different than the other two avenues. We exalt self in any way that we can.  Even the word “selfie” explains the attitude of people today. Social media is filled with pictures of the person who has the account.  The Apostle John mentions in in second John 2 and it is still valid today.  Satan knows it works and God has warned us adequately in His Word.  How often have we heard of the acronym for JOY.  Jesus, Others, You.  Mankind has it backwards when it says, You, Others, Jesus. If at all.  In most cases it is simply “you.”  If we know how Satan works, and he does go around seeking those whom he may devour, then we should be able to take steps to prevent him from being so successful.  Praise God today that He has given us the remedy.