A Way of Escape

Have you ever been to an Escape Room?  Essentially, you pay for entrance into a room and have a certain amount of time to find a way of escape out of the room before your time is up.  You’re given clues and puzzles to solve in order to figure the way out.  If you miss some of the clues and aren’t able to solve the puzzles, your time runs out, and you lose because you didn’t escape in time.  Losing is not a fun experience.

Did you know you lose when you don’t escape temptation in time?  When you give in to temptation, you lose to the flesh, and/or the world, and/or to the devil, and it is not a pleasant experience because it is sin.  Have you ever heard it said, “Sin will take you farther than you want to go, keep you longer than you want to stay, and cost you more than you want to pay”?  It’s true.

The good news is the Bible says in I Corinthians 10:13, “There is no temptation taken you but such as is common to man:  but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.” In this verse, I see three things:

1.  Temptation is common to all of us.

2.  There is no temptation that is a “special” temptation or too strong for us.

3.  God always makes a way for us to escape the temptation that we may be able to bear it.

God always provides a way to escape;  we do not need to succumb to temptation.  However, time is of the essence.  We must RUN from temptation; like we would run from a burning building, rather than linger around it or spend time thinking about it.  As Joseph fled from Potipher’s wife in Genesis 39:12 (KJV), we must flee (run away from) temptation.

Here are seven ways to escape temptation found in the Bible:

1.  Watch.

2.  Pray.

3.  Acknowledge God has the power to deliver us out of temptation.

4.  Speak the Bible out loud.

5.  Submit to God.

6.  Resist temptation.

7.  Flee temptation.

Jesus Christ said, “ Watch ye and pray, lest ye enter into temptation. The spirit truly is ready, but the flesh is weak.”  Mark 14:38 KJV.  We must watch, which means to be vigilant and alert, and we must pray.  Jesus Christ prayed, “And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil: for thine is the kingdom, and power, and glory forever. Amen.”  Matthew 6:9 KJV.  Jesus Christ said, “It is written” three times in Matthew 4:1-10 KJV and quoted Scripture when he was tempted of the devil and the devil went away for a season.  We must quote the Bible out loud, sometimes, so the devil will flee.  The Bible says in James 4:7, “Submit yourselves unto God: resist the devil and he will flee from you.”

God knows the way of escape and he gives us His Word and Holy Spirit as our guide.  Will you take a way of escape when tempted this week?