Thoughts From 1Corinthians 10 - Part 2

 Do not be idolaters, as some of them were; as it is written: “The people sat down to eat and drink and got up to indulge in revelry.” 8 We should not commit sexual immorality, as some of them did—and in one day twenty-three thousand of them died. 9 We should not test Christ, as some of them did—and were killed by snakes. 10 And do not grumble, as some of them did—and were killed by the destroying angel.11 These things happened to them as examples and were written down as warnings for us, on whom the culmination of the ages has come. 12 So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall! 13 No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.14 Therefore, my dear friends, flee from idolatry. 1Cor.10:7-14

         This passage begins and ends with idolatry. Since we don't have images made of gold to bow down and worship to, although they do in some Buddhist and Hindu nations, we have to ask how does this apply to us 2000 years later? What are our idols? Generally, anything that we worship more than God is an idol. Anything that we put our trust in rather than God is an idol. Although the idols have changed over the years, the temptations are the same. We still worship sexuality and sexual indulgence even though we don't worship Inanna, Aphrodite, Dionysis, Baal, Asherah, Min, Pan, or Xochipilli. Every other post on twitter emphasizes sexuality and women are making millions of dollars a year exposing themselves on Only Fans. We still worship partying and revelry even though we don't worship Bacchus, Silenus, Methe, Ninkasi, Ometochtli, Osiris, or Soma. I'm always amazed at the amount of alcohol people consume on vacation. It's like they vacation for an opportunity to get drunk. We still worship money even though the idols of Lakshmi, Kubera, Plutus, Tyche, Fortuna, Mercury, Caishen are gone. You can check your visa bill to see how much money we spend on ourselves. And although God wants us to trust Him to meet our needs, my 401K eases my anxiety.

       So, since the temptations are common to everyone in all times and settings, we can't claim that our temptations are worse than anyone else's or unique to us. We've addressed in chapter 3 the excuse, "But I'm only human!!" There have been humans throughout time that have defeated these temptations so that excuse is taken away. How do we defeat these idols and temptations?

    First identify your idols. I mentioned anxiety when it comes to money. What makes you anxious? Whatever that is you are relying on it more than God. Second, ask God for strength. He lives inside you and He doesn't want to do those things so surrender control to Him. Lastly, just run away.

I love this Far Side. It is so indicative of our temptations. The real question is why is she even on this street? If she walks down a different street this doesn't even happen. We put ourselves on these streets and wonder why we keep giving in to temptation. God has provided us a way out - it's called "a different street." Use it. This isn't rocket science.