Temptation is a Roundtrip Ticket

8/9/2019 Temptation is a Roundtrip Ticket

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Temptation is a Round-trip Ticket

by Thom Hunter -- http://thom-signsofastruggle.blogspot.com/

I wish I'd heard Christ in His gardenOr walked beside Him by the sea

To hear him directly speak my pardonAs I touched His robe to be set free.

I wish I'd sat around the tableSo He could pass the cup to me.

Or saw the star above the stableAnd the manger where He'd be.

I wish I'd helped Him bear His crossAnd stepped inside His empty tomb,And traced the scars that cover lossAs I knelt in the upper room.

But I never saw the shining star or heard the baby cry.And I wasn't in the garden, or ever heard those pounding

nails.I couldn't help Him bear that cross or climb the hill on whichHe'd dieI never walked the beach or sat with Him beneath the boat'sfull sails.

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Yet when I weep within my garden or in my lonely roomAnd trace these scars that slowly heal on me,Because Christ slept in a stable and stepped out from a tombHe is here to take these storm-tossed steps with me.

-- Thom Hunter

When I was about nine, I was a door-to-door donut salesman.My job was to smile really cute from under my folded paperhat when the housewives answered the door . . . and make alittle speech and hold out a bag of chocolate-covered donutswith a "your husband will never even know because you canpolish them off before he gets home" look. I would havegone up against any door-to-door vacuum cleaner salesman

in a heartbeat. My maple creams against your Hoover.

I don't know, maybe that's where I got the impression thatlife was just a sugar covered donut. The "you can't eat justone" philosophy. Maybe it was also the deep explanation of temptation I received as a child, surrounded by mentorsaddicted to cigarettes, alcohol, gambling . . . whatever. Thegeneral implication was that we really were tempted onlytowards good things. Just ask the Marlboro Man. We just

needed to be careful, because "too much of a good thing" isnot a good thing. But . . . it's still good.

No. Most of the things to which we are tempted are notgood and not good for us. And I'm not talking about donuts,as if the solution is as simple as celery. I'm talking, in thecontext of this blog, about sexual addiction. It's addictive,but rarely in a good way, and much like donuts make youfat, cigarettes hasten death, gambling keeps the babybarefoot and alcohol and drugs deplete the brain cells,sexual addiction -- whether same or opposite, real-timeor celluloid -- claims who you were and gives you adisgusting and warped semi-clone in return. Addictionseems to be dependent on perversion, the powder on thedonut, so-to-speak.



And it all begins with "T." Temptation. In the time it takes tobuy a ticket on the temptation railroad, "don't go there,"becomes "been there, done that." Then you find that whileyou enjoyed the scenery, you forgot to get the t-shirt, so you

hop back on and you're halfway 'round the bend before yourealize you boarded. Donuts anyone?

Temptation is like an eating disorder of the soul. Want . . .need . . . eat . . . throw up, and wallow in the misery of purging and swear you will never do it again. Wait . . .is that a donut?

Who put that donut out there?

And then . . . who are you to tell me that I cannot have adonut.

And . . . how dare you judge me. All I had was a measlydonut. It wasn't even that good.

I deserved a donut. I needed a donut. But I definitely havebeen satisfied now and I will never ever eat another donut.

Why in the world did I eat another donut?

Then . . . well, it was just a donut. Yes, I should have knownbetter, but this donut was different. Now that I know . . . Iwon't eat any more donuts.

Wait . . . is that a donut?

Okay . . . I guess I'm just one of those persons who is madeto eat donuts. I can't help it. It's just who I am.

No you're not. Yes you can. No, it's not.No temptation has seized you except what is common toman. And God is faithful; He will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, He



will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.-- 1 Corinthians 10:13Why is it the most familiar verses can be so elusive when wereally need them . . . and so easy to find when we have

given in to the temptation and are now ready to beatourselves up for it? Perhaps because guilt is a part of thecycle of temptation . . . it's a road sign to let us know we've

just about completed the round-trip and can grab our carry-on bags.

I know that many times temptation sneaks up on us . . . but just as often it is merely presented in response to our openinvitation. We put out the breadcrumbs that lead straight tothe door and then act surprised when the blackbird appears,

wanting more.

What a scenic trip we go on when we give in to temptation.So many stops along the way, so familiar and yet we launch

into the trip as though we've never been there before.

Self-pity -- I need, therefore I seek. I want, therefore I take.I lack, so therefore I deserve.

Bitterness -- I sought, I took, I got . . . and I am so mad.But, hey . . . that's what life is, isn't it? A string of fight-till-

you-fall moments? A little tease and then a tryst withtemptation? Show me someone standing and I'll show yousomeone lying.

Denial -- I don't know how I fell for that again. I don't knowwhat I was thinking. I'm usually so strong. It was just aminor slip anyway . . . and I'm getting better all the time.Besides, it didn't really hurt anyone. No one was affected. I

mean . . . hardly anyone even knows.

Anger -- Why do these things keep happening to me? It'snot fair. It's not worth it, trying to be right in this evil world.Forget it. If God really doesn't want me to fall, then why

does He let all these traps get set. He could stop it. He's all-



powerful. He's always there. He already knows everything.I've got a serious issue with this omniscient and omnipotent

thing.

Jealousy -- Everyone else has what they need. Everyoneelse is satisfied. Everyone else is happy. Everyone else'sneeds and wants are satisfied. Why can't I be like everyoneelse?

Hate -- Where's a bridge when I really need it? And I'mtalking about one to jump off of. I'm the stupidest, weakest,most worthless human being ever so-called-created in theimage of God. He hates me. I hate me. Everyone hatesme. (This can be a convenient u-turn spot back to self-pity

to keep us in the cycle, or we can move on to . . .)

Remorse -- Oh, God . . . please, please, please forgive meone more time. I have hurt myself and others . . . and most of all You. You love me so much and I turn away from You. Ifeel so horrible. How can You even look at me now? I havebeen so ungrateful, so unfaithful, so ignorant. I was created in Your image . . . and I have dragged You through the mud.

Frustration -- I have been doing everything I know to do,God. I pray. I confess. I build those hedges. I block everything I can. I have accountability. I . . . give up.

Judgmentalism -- I see those people around me all thetime, thinking they're so good . . . and they sin. They just doit in such a way that no one ever knows . . . or they think their petty little sins are nothing, while mine are said to bedeep plunges and long wallowing. Well . . . if they could seethemselves like I see them, they'd know that it's as muchtheir fault as mine that I sin. They're so caught up inthemselves, they don't have the time to care about, love or walk with . . . oooh . . . a "sinner" like me.

Self-reliance -- I'm sorry, God. I see what I did wrong now .. . and I know just how it happened. It won't happen again. I



promise. I can do this. I have a plan.

Hmmm . . . is that . . . yes, it is . . . a donut.

Of course, one of the temptations we need also to resist isthe temptation to just turn it all over to someone else . . . ora group of someone elses . . a committee. They'll lay out aplan, produce a list, mull over some milestones . . . and, ohyes, . . . hold your feet to the fire. Certainly beingtransparent to trusted souls who truly source the Bible andare really committed to walking with you in truth andcompassion (God with skin on) is an important part of

accountability . . . but transparency alone is not a solution;it's just part of one. It may feel good and safe to besurrounded by armor bearers, but they can't ban thepowdered sugar from your life.

Reliance on anything or anyone or any plan can not take theplace of reliance on God.

Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has gone

through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. For we do not have a high priest whois unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we haveone who has been tempted in every way, just as we are --

yet was without sin. Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need. -- Hebrews 4:14-16

Jesus Christ is the ultimate "been there-done that." Done asin "being tempted," not as in giving in. He knows. Hesympathizes. He's been through the heavens and He sits onthe throne . . . of grace. And . . . he says we canapproach with confidence. That means we have no reason--none at all -- to doubt that He will give us the mercy andthe grace we need . . . to put down the donut and back outof the bakery.



I had a dream two nights ago and I am thankful for it. I'mnot a professional dream interpreter, but I am a prettyproficient ponderer.

In my dream, I was a toddler. I didn't look like me, but Iknew it was me. I never spoke in the dream, but I was veryhappy and I kept pointing and fidgeting, trying to climb outof the arms and onto the shoulders of the person who wascarrying me, which I thought at first was my dad.

The person carrying me on his hip with one strong armwrapped around me was carrying in his other hand a hugestack of papers, hundreds of pages of writing, unstapled,

unbound, piled one on the other in perfect balance as wewalked into an old building. In my dream I had anunderstanding it was his life story he carried, but I could notread it.

He slid the papers onto the corner of a desk and sat me onthe floor. I began to run around the room, spinning incircles, jumping up and down, climbing on furniture, trippingand falling until I finally ran into the corner of the desk,

sending the papers flying all over the room like pigeonsreleased for a race.

I stopped and stared at the papers as they scattered . . . andat Him. My happiness was gone and I lowered my head tolook at the floor. There was no way . . . in the world . . . thatthose papers could ever be put back together.

He . . . not my dad at all, but, yes, the Holy "He" . . . walkedaround the room and re-assembled all the papers and setthem back on the corner of the desk. Nothing was missing,not one single sheet. It was all restored. Suddenly, Irealized in the dream that this now-reassembled scatteringwas not His story, but mine.

I know that the God of all creation can restore everything,



even the pieces of us we have left like breadcrumbs alongthe trail of temptation along which we learn to travel withsuch ease. Because of His love.

Anyone or anything that stands between you and Godinstead of directing you directly to God -- whether in amisguided attempt to save your soul or in a well-plannedeffort to claim it -- is just a donut vendor standing at yourdoor like a cute little boy in a pointed hat with a crisp whitebag full of feel-goods.

Just say, "not today" . . . and close the door. In time, he maynot stop by anymore.

God Bless,

Thomhttp://thom-signsofastruggle.blogspot.com/



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Temptation is a Roundtrip Ticket