Locating the Exits

No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.

 –1 Corinthians 10:13

If you have ever been on a plane, the flight attendants go through their emergency procedures. The one thing they ask the passengers to do is to locate the two exits closest to their seats. They do this so that if an emergency occurs, the passengers won’t be searching for the exits they will be able to immediately proceed to the closest way of escape.

When temptation comes to believers, and it will come, we must know the way to escape that God has provided. Now temptation comes from the devil in a broad sense. The devil tempts us specifically in our area weakness or vulnerability. We must not entertain the temptation when it comes. We cannot say gaze upon it, we cannot hold on to it. We cannot do what Eve did in the garden; “…So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate.” So we must know, whether it is the off button on your TV remote, the close button on the computer’s web browser or the “end” button on your telephone, we must recognize the way of escape and proceed to our nearest exit.