Lord’s Prayer
87
God in His great love is seeking to develop in us the precious
graces of His Spirit. He permits us to encounter obstacles, persecution,
and hardships, not as a curse, but as the greatest blessing of our lives.
Every temptation resisted, every trial bravely borne, gives us a new
experience and advances us in the work of character building. The
soul that through divine power resists temptation reveals to the world
and to the heavenly universe the efficiency of the grace of Christ.
But while we are not to be dismayed by trial, bitter though it be, we
should pray that God will not permit us to be brought where we shall
be drawn away by the desires of our own evil hearts. In offering the
prayer that Christ has given, we surrender ourselves to the guidance of
God, asking Him to lead us in safe paths. We cannot offer this prayer
in sincerity, and yet decide to walk in any way of our own choosing.
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We shall wait for His hand to lead us; we shall listen to His voice,
saying, “This is the way, walk ye in it.”
Isaiah 30:21
.
It is not safe for us to linger to contemplate the advantages to be
reaped through yielding to Satan’s suggestions. Sin means dishonor
and disaster to every soul that indulges in it; but it is blinding and
deceiving in its nature, and it will entice us with flattering presentations.
If we venture on Satan’s ground we have no assurance of protection
from his power. So far as in us lies, we should close every avenue by
which the tempter may find access to us.
The prayer, “Bring us not into temptation,” is itself a promise. If
we commit ourselves to God we have the assurance, He “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.”
1 Corinthians 10:13
.
The only safeguard against evil is the indwelling of Christ in the
heart through faith in His righteousness. It is because selfishness exists
in our hearts that temptation has power over us. But when we behold
the great love of God, selfishness appears to us in its hideous and
repulsive character, and we desire to have it expelled from the soul. As
the Holy Spirit glorifies Christ, our hearts are softened and subdued,
the temptation loses its power, and the grace of Christ transforms the
character.
Christ will never abandon the soul for whom He has died. The soul
may leave Him and be overwhelmed with temptation, but Christ can
never turn from one for whom He has paid the ransom of His own life.
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