"And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from the evil one.”
Matthew 6:13 NIV
One thing about moving to another town and that never changes, is the search for "what you had." The most convenient bread and milk corner shop, the best pub for a plate of chips after work on a Friday night, and of course... a nail place and a hairdresser.
My nail lady in Newbury was a star.
And then we moved to Poole.
Searching around I finally found a Vietnamese place that always plays the most beautiful, romantic, Vietnamese ballads on Youtube and where the three men and one woman who work there are quiet and gentle spirits. Perfect.
Now for the hairs.
Only a year after we moved to Poole, and one or two total disasters later, I found a salon on Facebook that looked promising.
It was a cool October morning when I parked in a side street and walked down there. On the way, however, my eye caught the large, brown brick building peeking out from behind a dense row of trees on the opposite side of the busy cross street.
The building itself was just a few blocks joined together with zigzag stairs from the street to the front door, the signage half hidden behind the bus stop: "Probation Office."
I saw someone walking up the stairs and push open the front door and I couldn’t help but think: "What would your story be?”
Because we all have one.
I’ve been mulling over these two lines of the Lord's Prayer.
And I wonder…
A temptation is only a temptation when it still has a hold on me, right?
If it has lost its hold on me, it is just another part of my day-to-day existence.
But how will I know that it has lost its hold on me?
When I can look it square in the eye and say: "Not today, Satan."
Now I see these two lines in the precious prayer in a new light.
The temptation will come, and keep coming, until it is no longer a temptation.
And this is what I ask Him for: To help me overcome my temptation, through the power in the blood of Jesus, until it is no longer necessary to repeatedly lead me to temptation.
Does that make sense?
Unfortunately, we are human, and once one temptation has been killed off, there will be another one waiting in the wings.
This is why this is a handy daily prayer.
Because temptations change.
Just listen to how beautifully The Message translates it:
"Keep us safe from ourselves and the Devil."
The Message
The man who walked into the Probation Office that day…
I want to believe that he turned his back on the temptation that landed him there.
Although he may still have been paying the price.
I want to believe that somewhere, in some way, he would have discovered that he had Help.
He did not have to face his demons, and his next temptation, by himself..
There is One who wants to keep him safe from himself.
Your inspiration for the week: He sees you
Comments