50 Days of Prayer for Fellowship CRC
1 Cor. 10:12-13a. “So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall! No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind.”
This is a good reminder, warning and encouragement. First, a reminder that tests, trials and temptations are the common lot of all of us. They will come to us, just as they do to everyone. Second, it is a warning to not give in to them, as many before us did (specifically the people in the Old Testament stories which the Apostle Paul has just referred to in verses 7-10). And third, they are encouragements (Paul here refers to them as “examples” in both verses 6 and 11), because getting succumbing to the temptations is by no means a foregone conclusion.
It is indeed helpful to remember that we are not unique in our temptations. We are by no means so special that we should be especially targeted!
Some pilgrims who have gone before us on this Christian journey, whom we commonly collectively refer to as the desert fathers and mothers, thought and wrote much on temptation. They tell us a couple of things. First, when temptation comes, acknowledge it. But then second, and perhaps counterintuitively, definitely do not let the temptation become the focus of interest; to do so would be feeding it and allowing it to take root, grow, flower and bear fruit.
The Apostle Paul is doing that here: he is reminding them that, right there in the church in Corinth, there is a temptation to sin looming large. Paul wants it called out on the carpet. But second, he is encouraging them to not think anything special by it. Rather, dispatch it quickly. (And we will discuss the rest of verse 13 in a few days.)
Stand firm, brothers and sisters, against tests, trials and temptations which will surely come. Remember to keep praying, including over the week ahead those on the second page of our church directory. (If you are not from Fellowship Church, I encourage you to join us and make a short list of people to pray for consistently over the next week.)
Let’s pray:
Father God, holy and good, we pray to you now for ourselves and for others. It is our desire to stand firm in faith and love. We know that tests, trials and temptations are for our good, yet we still struggle. We know they are common to all mankind and that many before us have had victory in them, yet the struggle is real. Help us to stand firm and not fall. Give victory today to others who feel weak, and show me us to whom we can lend a hand today, too. In the name of Jesus who struggled against sin as we do, Amen.
PS – There will not be a blog post tomorrow (Sunday); I refer you instead to the worship page on this site.