In our walk with God, the battle against every temptation is won through a stronger interest in a more satisfying and enduring reality.
Consider how Jesus dealt with his temptations. Each one appealed to a different aspect of life — the flesh, the world, and the devil himself.
After forty days of fasting he was hungry: “If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread.”
Then the world — human applause and acceptance: “the devil took him to the holy city and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down. For it is written: “‘He will command his angels concerning you, and they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’”
Then the devil saying, in effect, I myself will give you all the kingdoms of the earth in exchange for worship.
Take note that embedded in each of his replies, Jesus gave voice to a stronger interest he had that trumped anything the devil was offering. That passion served as an expulsive power that rendered the devil’s efforts futile.
And so with us. The secret of being able to resist any and all temptation is a growing fixation on spiritual realities that are so interesting and precious to us that compromising our pursuit of them becomes just plain unthinkable.
