NO PEEKING!
Why is it that when warned not to do something, people often do what they were told not to? That goes for kids AND adults. It reminds me of an TV episode I saw once where there was a sign by a hole in the fence warning passersby: "DO NOT LOOK". So naturally, that's what everyone who went by wanted to do.
My sister, the one who is the webmaster for this site (thank you, thank you!) set my thoughts off for today's journal entry. She was having trouble with her blog site yesterday (hoosierfamily06.blogspot.com) and finally got it back up in the afternoon. I got on the site a little while later and noticed that there were some changes, so I stayed and looked around. She had added some images and that sort of thing, but near the bottom of the right hand sidebar was a little tiny icon that was labeled "DO NOT CLICK". My cursor was over the image and it popped up "DO NOT ENTER". It freaked me out a little. I didn't know if it had something to do with her site being off for awhile or what. But mind you, I was a curious little monkey... BUT I DID NOT CLICK.
I got off of the site and e-mailed her. I told her that I liked the improvements and then asked, "What's the deal with the "DO NOT CLICK" icon. It makes me want to click!" She responded in laughter (HA HA HA HA) and told me to go and find out. Given permission, I then went and clicked on it... and it was......... Well, If you want to know, you'll have to go and find out for yourself!
So, I immediately began thinking about temptation and how easily we can be swayed by it's lure.
Is it a sin to be tempted? No. The Word tells us that even Jesus was tempted, but that He did not sin. Only when we yield (give in) to temptation is when it becomes sin. The original sin (when Adam and Eve sinned in the garden) started out as a temptation that had some pretty hefty consequences.
What kinds of things tempt us? For everyone it's different, but everyone has something that the devil likes to throw in his/her face frequently. For a kid, it might be cheating on a test, lying, stealing, or reading their sibling's personal diary. For teens, it may be to take money out of mom's purse, drinking, using curse words, disobedience, rebellion, or relationships gone too far. For adults, they may cheat on taxes, engage in extra marital activities (or if not married... fornication), lie, gossip, engage in entertainment that is not appropriate, or coveting (trying to keep up with the Jones family or having to have all the latest things). These are just a few! Oh, there are many, many more!!!!!!!
YOU ARE FULLY AWARE OF WHAT TEMPTS YOU!!! Aren't you?
So what can you do about it? You need to fight the enemy just as Jesus did during his wilderness temptation. You must fight satan with the Word and the Spirit of God. The Spirit leads you into all truth and lets you know what sin is. You'll feel that little twinge of conviction immediately. The Word also leads us in truth. It's the map for spiritual life. If you don't read the map, you'll get lost every time.
Consider the consequences of temptation, too. The Word tells us that the wages of sin is death! That doesn't sound very appealing.
I'll end this journal entry with a little story that I love so much. It's a true story. We had one of the best Kid's Pastors in the world a few years back (he is now a Senior Pastor) named James. James was always doing crazy things with the kids. One Sunday, he decided to teach them about obedience. He had a table with 3 delicious carmel apples placed around the outer edge. He gave all of the kids that volunteered instructions of what they were to do: walk slowly around the table and then pick up an apple by its stick. He knew, however that someone would disobey! Sure enough, Drew ran straight up to the table without walking around it and picked up the biggest one. He took a huge bite.... out of the carmel ONION! 
Don't be tempted with the carmel onions of life! Obedience brings great reward.
Blessings today!
