thecrump

Hebrews 2:18 "Because He Himself suffered when He was tempted, He is able to help those who are being tempted."

As an adult there are things I look back at and wish I could have done differently as a youth. I didn't realize it then, but now I understand how my attitude affected my life. For instance, whenever my parents would counsel me they would say something like, "we understand where you're coming from, because we used to be a teenager."  Of course, my reaction was to roll my eyes and then allow a smirk to cross my lips. After all, my parents were "old" and there is no way they could understand my situation. This foolish thinking kept me from confiding in them so that I could find wisdom in their words. I ended up making mistakes that could have been avoided had I simply acknowledged their past and examined their example.

The same is true with Christ. Hebrews tells us that He endured temptation yet never sinned. This highly qualifies Him to help us overcome those same sins. Are you tempted by selfishness? Jesus faced the cross and yet obeyed His Father rather than take the easy way out. Are you struggling with lust? Jesus was surrounded by prostitutes and adulterous women yet He never saw them as objects of lust. He saw them as sick people who needed healing. What about greed or covetousness? Jesus could have used His power to amass fame and fortune. When Satan offered Him the nations, Christ looked past the earthly Kingdoms and remember His heavenly One. He endured all kinds of temptations and yet He remained pure.  Because of His faithfulness, we can come to Him and find wisdom, power and forgiveness when dealing with our own sin.

The trick is to come to Him. Like me with my parents, they had knowledge I could gain from but I refused to come to them. I refused to believe they could help me. I refused to believe that they actually understood what I was going through. With Christ, we must trust in His Word and then go to Him expecting to learn and grow. Approach the throne of grace with confidence and find the power and guidance needed to overcome sin. He endured our sinful world so that we could be made righteous, but He also endured so that He would become our great High Priest who understands where we are coming from. Be honest with Him. Find rest in His grace and wisdom for Your life.