Human
beings are naturally and historically weak. Despite this, we always struggle to
do nothing else but only the acceptable in society. Mostly, while bent down on
our knees, we do remonstrate with God to keep our hearts and bodies pure. However,
every man is descended to Adam and Eve – our first parents. They had erred, and
so we must face life temptations. A
stream follows its source.
Our
God is jealous. He cannot let us prefer the wide path to the narrow one. After
blessing us with resources – like in Job’s case, he has to test us. Yes, to
gauge the intensity of our faith in Him. He allowed Satan to tempt his own son
Jesus Christ, what about we mere men; whose hearts are prone to emotions and
desire of earthly resources?
It
must be remembered that Lucifer himself had been a heaven resident – one of the
chief angels – before falling out of favour with God. Therefore he had some
divine wisdom in him. This explains his cunning while wandering around and
within the earth. In fact, Satan is very cunning so as to match with God’s
incredibility. The two are always in stiff competition to win as many human
souls as possible.
Nobody
can extend a pointed finger and say; there goes the devil. He cannot be seen
physically. He will enter into your friend, and through his influence, he will
convincingly say to you: stop pretending blindness, that wife or daughter of
so-and-so looks fresh or looks sweet or
walks swinging her hips captivatingly……as though she is calling - inviting you
for dinner, or for a walk down the garden on the other side of the river.
Temptations
keep us far from God. For instance, take the case of a gospel preacher – turned
politician. He storms parliament holding a bible to serve his people with the
shrewdness of King David. But to better his life, and given to usual human
dissatisfaction, he may be tempted to bribe – or grab a coin or a note here and
there using the scripture as a scapegoat. Is this not Christian “prostitution”?
Prostitutes are unwelcomed in God’s kingdom – unless they repent like Mary
Magdalene.
It’s
hard to overcome temptations in Christian life. All we can do is to exercise
control with faith as a tool. If Adam had enough faith to resist the wiles of
the serpent, the universe would still be a paradise. Death would be unknown.
Human bodies would remain young and energetic. Only would we be taking care of other
creatures, and smiling and laughing and bathing while naked in the waters of
Tigris and Euphrates.
We
should have faith in prayer. Our Lord understands when we request him; “……do
not lead us into temptation, but deliver from evil, Amen.” He is too caring to
allow Satan destroy our lives completely. When we are faced with temptations, we should
always stick to our creator. The shepherd knows how to take care of his flock. He
enables his army of angels to know when Satan goes beyond unacceptable lengths.
They also know when to fight him – to restore our souls to glory.
©Peter
Ngila 2013
