When it comes to the subject of winning over temptation, the Apostle Paul tries to prepare us well. He even gives us a historical example of how sin has a tendency to slowly take over our lives, even under the best of circumstances.
For I do not want you to be ignorant of the fact, brothers and sisters, that our ancestors were all under the cloud and that they all passed through the sea. They were all baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea. They all ate the same spiritual food and drank the same spiritual drink; for they drank from the spiritual rock that accompanied them, and that rock was Christ. Nevertheless, God was not pleased with most of them; their bodies were scattered in the wilderness.
~ 1 Corinthians 10:1-5 NIV
Notice in this passage the repetition of the word “all.” Paul tells us that:
- ALL of the Israelites saw God’s presence among them.
- They ALL watched the Red Sea part and crossed on dry ground.
- They were ALL led by a great leader, Moses.
- They ALL saw pictures of Christ throughout their journeys.
Then he concludes the passage by saying, “Nevertheless, God was not pleased with most of them.” So they ALL enjoyed extremely powerful and protective circumstances, yet most of them still failed morally. Why?
I’ll talk about the why in tomorrow’s reading, but here’s the message of this passage: Your circumstances will never be good enough to protect you from evil.
Going to church, surrounding yourself with Christian trinkets, putting faith-based bumper stickers on your car, even going to seminary and serving in ministry will not keep you from stumbling. But Jesus can.
It’s simple. Don’t trust your surroundings to save you. Trust Jesus to save you.
