James 1:14
[14] “But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed.”
Our verse begins by telling us that every man is tempted. This is a fact that we all know, and have experienced. No matter who you are, or how long you have been serving God, temptation is something that we all must face. If we fail to deal with temptation, then temptation will deal with us.
The question on my mind is, “When do we face temptation?” Can we define the very moment that it begins? The answer is yes we can. The Lord does not want us to be surprised, but rather he wants us to be aware of temptation the second it comes into view.
Notice our verse tells us that every man is tempted “WHEN” he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. The phrase “drawn away” carries the idea of the baiting of a trap. The word “enticed” means “to bait a hook”. The word “lust” means “a desire”. Let’s put this in perspective now. We are tempted at the moment that we desire the bait that has been set before us.
The devil is going to hide the trap and the hook. He only wants us to see the bait. Friend, it’s when we start focusing on the bait that we get in trouble. You might think, “How can I overcome the desire?” The way we overcome the desire, and defeat the temptation, is by focusing on the trap and the hook, and not on the bait. You see, if an animal had enough understanding to know what the trap was, he would bypass the bait. So would a fish if he understood the pain of the hook. It causes you to lose the desire for the bait. If we will look past the temptation, and consider the cost and consequences of fulfilling a sinful desire, then there is no temptation. The defining moment is when we detect the lustful desire in our heart. We must denounce it, turn to God for help and ask him to remove it.