This particular selection is from Adrian Rogers. His advice is short and simple but wise. Enjoy!
Filling
Legitimate Desires Illegitimately
"The
devil is a pervert. He cannot create things himself. He can only take things
God has created and twist them. We sin when we give in to the devil's
temptations and try to fulfill legitimate God'-given desires in an illegitimate
way. For example, food is a God-given necessity, but gluttony is a sin.
Sex
within a loving marriage is a God-given blessing, but adultery is sin. Having
and enjoying material things is a God-given privilege, but pride, dishonesty,
stealing, greed and selfishness are sins. When we are tempted, we need to
figure out what legitimate desire the devil is trying to pervert. Then we need
to find God's way to fulfill that desire legitimately. If we do that we will have
no itch the devil can scratch.
Rather
than always trying not to sin, we ought to turn our focus in another direction
-- on finding our satisfaction in the Lord Jesus Christ. I think parents,
pastors, school teachers and youth workers make this mistake with young people.
We try to keep our young people from doing wrong. If you've ever tried to take
a bone away from a dog, you know that's a good way to get bit. The way to do it
is to lay a piece of red meat in front of the dog. He will drop the bone in
order to grab the meat. We need to show young people how they can get their
needs legitimately fulfilled in the Lord Jesus Christ. Then they won't have to
guard the bones."
It
is helpful, as he points out, to remember that "sin" is often nothing
more than seeking to meet legitimate needs in illegitimate ways. It is to
meet them prematurely, in excess, or outside the boundaries God has set for
their enjoyment or exercise, The particular need is not evil, nor is the
fulfillment of that need when met in a godly fashion. The "sin"
lies in the inappropriate way we go about seeking to meet holy, God-given and
legitimate needs. For more often than not, the devil's temptation (or
perversion) is to tempt us to partake before we should, consuming more than we
should, in a way that violates how we should -- thereby dishonoring the
wise and good purposes of God in creation.
In the Bonds of Gospel Fellowship, Pastor Jeff
