My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. James 1:2,3
If you are anything like me, you will know that temptations are the hardest part of being a Christian. And I am not talking about wanting that second piece of chocolate cake, either; I am talking about our enemy the devil’s enticements for us to be dishonest in our business dealings, or to read or view some immoral material, or to gossip unkindly about a fellow believer. These and many other temptations would lead us into things that would destroy our testimony to the world and would damage our fellowship with our Lord and with His people. Wouldn’t it be great if we could be free of these awful temptations? The writer of the book of James doesn’t seem to think so.
James advises us to view temptations as something to be joyful about. Did you know that when God allows us to be tempted, He is paying us a great compliment? Think of the words of 1 Corinthians 10:13: ‘There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, Who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.’ So every temptation that comes our way is something that God knows that can handle through the power that He gives us. If we fail, shame on us. But if we pass the test, we can rejoice, as our text tells us, that our Lord enabled us to win the victory.
Our temptations also provide us with a means of investing in the eternal. The word ‘count’ in our text is an accounting term; it comes from the Greek ‘hegesasthe’, which means to consider or reckon. James is telling us that in the ledger of our life, our temptations should be regarded as deposits, not withdrawals. He is agreeing with the words of 1 Peter 1:7: ‘That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ’. When you and I stand at the Judgment Seat of Christ, our Lord will have the record to show every temptation – each trying of our faith as our text calls it – that we encountered during our Christian experience. There will be loss for each one that we failed. But there will be reward, more precious than gold, for each one that we pass. Isn’t that something to be joyful about?
No, none of us enjoy dealing with the temptations and trials as they come along. But when by the grace of God we pass through them victorious we can rejoice, with good reason. – Jim MacIntosh