James 1:14 "But each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust."
Throughout this life the Christian is tempted on a daily basis, just as Jesus Christ was tempted of the devil to commit sin. Unlike Jesus Christ though, we are often dragged away and enticed by our own evil desires. The writer in James is right when he goes on to say in James 1:15, "Then when lust has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and when sin is accomplished, it brings forth death."


The sad part of this equation is that when sin is accomplished it brings forth spiritual death. Physical death is the least of our problems. Jesus Christ warned in Matthew 10:28, "Do not fear those who kill the body but are unable to kill the soul; but rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell."


You see we go through life doing all sorts of sinful acts directed like a band by the devil. Do we have a choice in the matter? Yes we do. Just as Jesus Christ resisted the temper, the devil, so too we must seek to resist him. James informs us in chapter 1:13, "Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God; for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempteth no man:". We cannot blame God for our evil deeds at any time, it is our lustful desires that we must control.


It is not an easy road, and many have fallen along the battlefield. But we have no hope of salvation if we do not control our sinful nature. When we signed up to become Christians we were warned by God that we must transform our thoughts. We must daily be like newborn babes craving the Word of God if we are to overcome the devil. We see this emphasized in 2 Peter 2:2, "like newborn babies, long for the pure milk of the word, so that by it you may grow in respect to salvation."


The sooner we realize that each day that we continue to walk in sin, we walk closer to spiritual death, then we will see that we are slowly losing our relationship with God. We cannot continue in sin forever and think that God will hear our prayers. The bible tells us in Romans 6:1-2,"What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin so that grace may increase?May it never be! How shall we who died to sin still live in it?" 


How shall we who died to sin still live in it? This is a question that haunts me so many times when I sin. It is a question that should haunt us all who have fully accepted God into our lives. It reminds of how God describes a man who goes back to the world, 'like a pig going back to its sty, like a dog going back to its vomit'. I think so hard on these things at times, and I realize that I am far from the mark. However, I cannot keeps replaying the sins I commit, but I have to change completely and do the will of Almighty God. 


As Christians our goal is to avoid spiritual death. What purpose would our lives have been if not to leave this world and enter the bosom of God. Temptation is something that we must avoid and eliminate from our lives.