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Dripping Springs Weekly Bulletins
"That Woman You Gave Me"
Years ago when I was a first year “coach”, an associate of mine gave me some information. One of our players fumbled the ball at a crucial time in a big game. When the whistle blew, the player came limping to the sideline. I was concerned that he was injured, but my associate said, “that’s what some players do when they make a big mistake — they fake injury to take attention away from their mistake.” I thought that might be true, but I didn’t like the cynical sound of it.
Social scientists do tell us that our present culture is in a state of “denial.” Many have decided they can avoid responsibility for their misdeeds by simply claiming, “It’s not my fault!”
Our courts of justice often see a defendant who claims it was not his fault, that he could not help it.
Whose fault is it?
- Who left the door open? “Not me!”
- “I didn’t intend to commit adultery,
it was that woman’s fault.”
- “It’s not my fault I failed. The
teacher doesn’t like me.”
- “He hit me first! It’s not my fault.”
This attitude is neither new nor is it typical only to the young. Adam sinned, Genesis 3, then he informed God that it was the fault of the woman He [God] had given him. Adam even seemed willing to indict God to evade his own guilt.
King Saul used a similar excuse, blaming “the people” for his violation of God’s command, 1 Samuel 13:9-14. He was told to assemble the people until Samuel came to offer the sacrifice, but Saul was impatient and presumptuously offered the sacrifice himself. When confronted, he said, “..the people..” Saul was more concerned about his status with his people than with his God. He is in a large company of people today.
False Religious Doctrine
Whether intended or not, some of the doctrines of men seek to take responsibility from man. John Calvin embraced the view that God has already decided the eternal destiny of man, and that man’s behavior has nothing to do with it. Calvin also believed man is born stained with the sin of Adam.
Scripture supports neither doctrine. Both Isaiah and Paul state that it is our own sin that separates us from God. Note the following:
“Your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear,” Isaiah 59:2.
“You did He make alive, when you were dead through your trespasses and sins...” Ephesians 2:1. [ASV]
It’s not Adam’s fault when I sin. It’s my fault. It is my sin that separates me from my Father in heaven. When I succumb to temptation, the consequences belong to me, not God (James 1:13), not even Satan the tempter. It was and is my choice.
The Way of Escape
Fortunately, when we are tempted, God has promised us that a “way of escape” will be available to us so we “may be able to bear it,” 1 Corinthians 10:13. Make no mistake about this; God will not fail to keep His promise. There will be a “way of escape.” It will be there. It’s our responsibility to look for, find that “way”, and then take it.
Jesus is the only person ever to live “without sin,” Hebrews 4:15. His temptations were the same faced by man today, but He took the same “way of escape” open to us, leaving an example we are able to follow:
“Who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth,” 1 Peter 2:22.
Sinless perfection will elude us all, but we can resist temptation, and the more we resist Satan the quicker he will “flee from” us, James 4:7.
How to Take the “Way of Escape”
- First, we must recognize sin for what it is, and abhor it as Jesus did. We read that sin is “transgression of the law,” that is, God’s law, 1 John 3:4. So, we need to discover God’s “law.”
- Second, we must take God’s law, study it, follow it, study it more and make it the standard of our behavior from that day forward. When we do so we will learn what God’s will is for us, and that giving in to temptation can remove us from God’s favor.
- Third, we must want to escape temptation. We will take the way of escape only when we really want to find it and take it.
- Fourth, Repentance is a major part of this plan. This demands a genuine change of mind and a corresponding change of behavior. When we change our mind about sin, we can escape the temptation.
- Fifth, the next step on the “way of escape” is to say No to temptation. Yes, I said No. No magic here, just the discipline you expected. The way is there, but you must take the way, all the way, and “resist the devil.”
It is not possible to evade the responsibilities of our deeds simply by closing our eyes to them. We will never be what we can be until we face temptation, look Satan in the eye and tell him “No!” God provides the “way,” but we have to take it. We – that’s you and me – are responsible for our life. For our deeds. Our failures. If we go wrong, it is our own fault.
But – we can win the battle by facing it and taking the “way of escape.”
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“Sin is a monster of such frightening countenance that to be hated needs but to be seen. But seen too often, familiar with its face, we first endure, then pity, then embrace."
“God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what ye are able; but with the temptation will make a way of escape, that you may be able to bear it,”
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He Gave His Dearest Posession
In a small mid-western town lived a young widow with her five year old son who had been born blind. After months of saving money, the young mother traveled to an Eastern city to see a doctor whom she was informed could give sight to her son.
When told that the mother was not able to pay the normal fee, the surgeon replied that restoring the boy’s sight was the first priority. Following several successful operations and long days and nights of waiting to remove the bandages from the boy’s eyes, a smile of delight came upon the boy’s face as he beheld his mother for the first time. “Mother,” said he, “you are more beautiful than I ever dreamed you could be!”
When the day came to leave the hospital, the lad wanted to give the doctor something, but the only thing he had was a small teddy bear which had been his companion since infancy. One arm was gone, one leg had lost its stuffing, one eye was missing, but the bear was still the dearest possession he had. Nonetheless, he gave it to the doctor and the doctor, under protest, reluctantly accepted it.
When the boy and his mother arrived back home, a huge package awaited them in which was the biggest and finest teddy bear that money could buy. However, in the surgeon’s office, carefully placed in a glass container sits a little brown and battered teddy bear with one arm, a limp leg, and only one eye. On a card in front of the bear are these words: “The largest single fee I ever received for professional services.”
This story is true. The boy gave something virtually worth nothing for something priceless, but it was all he had to give and his most precious possession.
Do you make the connection spiritually? Jesus died to give us a priceless possession – eternal life for our sin sick and dying soul! We owe Him so much for such a gift, but we have virtually nothing to give Him for it except our most precious possession – ourselves! What have you given the Lord for what He has given you?
“….While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us,” Romans 5:8.
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