The Way Of Escape Series

For six months, a farmer near Regensburg, Germany, worked in vain to capture his runaway bull. The bull had escaped in the summer and hid out in the Bavarian woods. The farmer attempted to lasso the animal, but the bull would always slip away into the woods. Once, the farmer tried shooting the beast with a tranquilizer, but the darts failed to stop it.

After six months of failure, the farmer’s neighbor, Werner Dechant, succeeded in capturing the bull. Dechant saw the black bull eating grain out of a bucket on his property. He tried and failed to snare the cautious beast. But Dechant had an idea for when the animal returned. The next day, Dechant mixed a bottle of vodka with the grain. The day after, he soaked the grain in two more bottles of vodka. The bull got drunk, which made it easy for Dechant to capture it. According to one news report, “The bull has now been returned to his owner—and will not be allowed out again” (Hannah Cleaver, "Sitting Bull," WORLD, Quicktakes, 2-8-14; www.PreachingToday.com).

Vodka brought that bull down, and sin will bring you down, as well, even if you think you’re as strong as a bull.

So what can you do to escape sin in times of temptation? What can you do to get away from sinful desires? What can you do to avoid addictive behaviors, which can enslave the strongest of Christ’s followers? Well, if you have your Bibles, I invite you to turn with me to 1 Corinthians 10, 1 Corinthians 10, where God warns those who think they are strong in the faith to be careful lest they fall into sin.

1 Corinthians 10:1-4 For I do not want you to be unaware, brothers, that our fathers were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea, and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, and all ate the same spiritual food, and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank from the spiritual Rock that followed them, and the Rock was Christ (ESV).

God abundantly blessed His people who came out of Egypt with Moses. He protected and guided them with a cloud pillar. He miraculously parted the Red Sea, giving them a way to escape their captors. And in so doing, God baptized them into Moses. That is to say, God united them together as one people with Moses as they came to trust his leadership (Exodus 14:31). More than that, God provided manna from heaven (“spiritual food”) and water from the rock (“spiritual drink”).

In the same way, God abundantly blesses His people today! God protects (1 Peter 1:5) and guides (Luke 1:79) those who trust in His Son, Jesus. He miraculously delivered them from sin and Satan’s power (Hebrews 2:14-15; Galatians 1:4). Furthermore, God baptized them into Christ! That is to say, He united every believer into one body as they came to trust Christ’s leadership (1 Corinthians 12:13). And for every believer, God provides spiritual food, Christ Himself, who is the Bread of Life (Matthew 6:31-33). And God provides spiritual drink from the Rock that is Christ! He is the “living water” (John 4:13-14; 7:38) that follows every believer through their wilderness experiences into the Promised Land!

If you have put your trust in Christ, God has and is blessing you in tremendous ways! So start there if you want to escape sin in times of temptation.

REALIZE HOW MUCH GOD HAS BLESSED YOU.

Recall what God has and is doing for you. Focus on God’s benefits, not on what bothers you.

You see, people give into temptation when they forget how good God is to them. That’s the tactic Satan used on Eve. She was in the Garden of Eden, literally a paradise, but Satan convinced her that God was holding back on her. Satan convinced her that she could have more if she disobeyed God. As a result, She forgot how good she had it and gave into temptation.

Please, don’t do what Eve did! Don’t forget how good God has been to you! Instead, as temptation entices you, focus on God’s blessings. Transfer your attention from your craving to God’s overwhelming generosity.

Erik Raymond talks about a man who was a good husband and dad. He loved his family faithfully. He was always around, steady, and took care of them. His influence, even if nobody realized it, was central in everyone’s life.

Even so, his family failed to appreciate the scope of his love until one day when they found his journal. When they opened it, they could see the backstory to their memories. Their happy experiences were intricately planned and carefully executed. He even reflected about how glad he was that he gave his wife and children such joy.