I just sold my home in beautiful Islamorada Florida located in the heart of the gorgeous Florida Keys. It is with mixed emotions that I sold our guest home, our primary residence located on the ocean, my boats, and various fishing equipment.
I enjoyed the Florida Keys for seven years and literally caught tons of fish, but alas I began getting skin cancer and my doctor told me that if I wanted to live I should move to a more hospitable climate, farther away from the equator, where I did not receive so much sun. Thus I moved to Honey Lake Plantation and sure enough my skin cancer problem has been greatly reduced.
I do love the ocean however; and when I recently went down to pack up my remaining stuff, the smell of the saltwater stirred up memories, and sun or no sun it was a compelling temptation to go fishing while I was down there. In fact I did call around to some of my buddies to see if I could arrange a fishing trip for myself and the guy who accompanied me.
Alas the fishing situation this time of the year is the absolute pits, and on such short notice the best trip that we could have hoped for was a half day anyway, so we ended up passing on it.
I was thinking about the overwhelming temptation of it and my complete readiness to yield to it. In spite of my doctor’s solemn warnings and without giving it a second thought, had the fishing report been just a tad bit better I was completely ready to disregard the danger of the sun’s exposure to my already severely damaged skin and was fully ready and willing to head out to the azure blue ocean. (That is the primary reason I sold all of it because I knew I couldn’t resist the temptation if I went down there.)
Hmmm… This is a stark reminder of just how powerful temptation is in our daily lives and how difficult it is to avoid.
There is a great saying in boating referring to docking a boat in a crowded marina, “Go slow, so you look like you know”. I have been a certified boat captain for many years and have witnessed plenty of people (“hot dogs”) gun their boats as they entered into a crowded marina and prepared to dock. It seems to be a macho thing to do to come zipping into the harbor fast and then try to back down and deftly maneuver into a small boat slip.
It may be cool looking to pull it off, but unfortunately it is not as easy as one might imagine and many things can go wrong. I’ve seen countless nuts coming in too fast that crashed their boats head on into a dock and/or another boat, often injuring occupants and innocent bystanders. Instead of looking like “Cool Hand Luke”, they end up looking like stupid idiots. It is far better to gently ease your boat very slowly into the marina and gradually maneuver it into its slip and thereby look like an experienced, professional captain.
We would all be better served to adhere to that saying in all of our endeavors. Yielding to temptation is often impulsive. Slow down when faced with it and just maybe you can avoid looking like a stupid idiot not to mention severely damaging lives and property!
While packing up my stuff I found a sign in giant red letters entitled, “THINK!” I used to keep that little sign right by my business phone. Running a major corporation causes plenty of angst I tell you, and sometimes I would exceed my simmering stage and rapidly approach the boiling point and tell someone what I really thought about the situation. I cannot tell you how many times glancing at that sign helped me to avoid making a fool out of myself.
Of course the best way to avoid temptation is through our faith. Though at times we might fail our Lord, He never fails us. Pilgrim’s Progress has an example of this that describes it much better than I ever could. A scene from Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress portrays Interpreter bringing Christian to a wall where fire is blazing from a grate. A man is trying to douse the fire with water. Then Interpreter shows Christian the other side of the wall, where another man is secretly pouring oil on the fire to keep it ablaze. Interpreter says, “You saw the man standing behind the wall to maintain the fire, teaching you that it is hard for the tempted to see how this work of grace is maintained in the soul.” Satan tries to quench faith, but Christ keeps it alive.
Keep the faith my friends – keep the faith and be strong in the Lord.
Have a great weekend and go to church this Sunday!
James 1:12
Blessed is the man who endures temptation; for when he has been proved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him.