Solomon said, ‘Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life.’ And Paul wrote: ‘Take captive every thought…make it obedient to Christ’ (2 Corinthians 10:5 NIV). We all have different things that can tempt us away from God. When we’re aware of these things drawing us down the wrong path, we need to make a conscious effort to turn away from them, before they can infect our thoughts and our hearts. We can learn a lot about the process of temptation from David’s story in 2 Samuel 11:2-4. First, he saw Bathsheba. Sometimes we can’t help seeing something that could tempt us, but when we do, we should try to walk away immediately and stop it getting any further into our thoughts. Second, he asked who she was. When we’re faced with temptation, we shouldn’t allow it to take a firmer grip on us by dwelling on it or finding out more about the thing that’s tempting us. Third, he sent for Bathsheba. Temptation is strongest when we make the choice to bring it within our reach; we can’t rely on our willpower to carry us through safely, because it often isn’t powerful enough. Throughout the story, David had opportunities to break the process of temptation, but his choices and actions led to it getting more and more of a hold on him. That’s why we need to carefully guard our hearts and keep focused on God and His path – that way, we can turn our backs on temptation as soon as it comes our way.

What Now?

This morning, before you go about your day, turn the words of Proverbs 4:23 into a prayer to help you refuse temptation and focus on God.