Devotional Thought of the Day:

¹¹  And they have defeated him by the blood of the Lamb and by their testimony. And they did not love their lives so much that they were afraid to die. Revelation 12:11 (NLT) 

And don’t let us yield to temptation, but rescue us from the evil one. Matthew 6:13 (NLT) 

1008      In the hour of temptation, practise the virtue of Hope, saying: For my rest and enjoyment I have the whole of eternity ahead of me. Here and now, full of Faith, I will earn my rest through work and win my joy through suffering. What will Love be like in Heaven? Better still, you should practise your Love by saying: What I want is to please my God, my Love, by doing his Will in all things, as though there were neither reward nor punishment—simply to please him.  (1)

We all have temptations.

Some involve things we desire.  Chocolate, desserts, alcohol, drugs, pornography, sex in any form other than marriage, gossip, slander (especially those people we don’t like).  We can even be tempted to whine and throw a pity party, confident that no one has ever been challenged with what we face.

There are also temptations to avoid things: confrontation, suffering, discomfort, having to sacrifice things that are important to us, even martyrdom.  We may not like reality as we perceive it, and the temptation is to believe that perception and hide from that which we cannot control or enjoy.

We pray to God that He would strengthen us against such things, but we fail for so many of them.  You aren’t alone in this dear reader, I fail as well, so does every priest and pastor you encounter.  Every saint was tempted, and of all History, only Jesus was tested in all points and never succumbed.

Does that mean we stop striving for it and give it up?  Do we just enjoy that which damages our bodies and souls?  Do we just find our cave, and hide from anyone who might do us harm, including ourselves?

For if we can’t overcome temptation, if we can’t live the perfect, holy life, then why try?

Does God really expect us to live miserably, failing over and again?

The answer is seen in the quotes above, in the description of our lives, found in the Book of Revelation.  Yes, the description of our lives, pictured as those who have overcome, (the word nike in Greek – we just did it!)  How?

By the blood of Christ – the promise of our being rescued from this life and the damage caused to it by sin.  We count on that; we have confidence that God is doing exactly that in this wearying life.

We trust in what God reveals! We know it so well that we are willing to testify to it, testify to it, even like the martyrs who died, rather than give up the hope that God instills in us…

The last comment is perhaps the hardest; we don’t cling to this life so much, that we face anxiety and fear in view of death.  This isn’t easy, to not know this life, the only life we know.  It is hard to focus on the future.  We have obligations and pressures.  We have to keep in balance so many different things.

I love Escriva’s two-step approach to this.  The first, to have the ultimate sense of delayed gratification.  To know what God awaits us, and press on like Paul – to reach that which God has already made it possible to enjoy.  That challenges our perceptions, which our sacrifices are complete, that our commitment goes over and above what should be expected.

The second phase is where Christian maturity is revealed, where we have started to understand the depth of God’s love, the blessings He pours out on us, by loving us like that.

To endure life, to work through temptation and trial, to sacrifice things in this life, because doing so frees us to do something that brings God joy!   When we got to the point where we don’t do things for the rewards of heaven, but simply because of love for God.

This attitude only occurs when we realize first His love.

Realizing His love puts this life with its trials, temptations and sacrifices into perspective.

I pray that as we deal with the trials and temptations of life, that first and foremost, we look to God and know His love and promises.

For then we know the Blood of Christ, we see it at work in our lives, we treat life in view of eternity, and because of God, we overcome.

AMEN.

(1)   Escriva, Josemaria (2011-01-31). The Forge (Kindle Locations 3553-3557). Scepter Publishers. Kindle Edition.