The Cockroach of Temptation
Let us play with a modern Parable in this vein, it is a lovely Spring/Summers Day, and a Picnic outdoors is so appealing, all the food and supplies are prepared, and off to the Park you all joyfully go, and there under the spreading green tree, is a delightful Picnic Table. You wander over, give it just a wiggle, and it proves to be robust and strong, so you set out the food and just as you start to tuck in, a big fat and very shiny black cockroach squeezes up between the planks, hastening quickly onwards up and over towards your food. Question; do you let it clamber all over your Picnic Lunch, and have it then call up all his mates, until you have a seething mess of Roaches on the table, with what little is left, and the plate as well, all only fit for the trash bin? Or do you on the other hand give it a very quick and swift “Flick,” to send it spinning off far from you?
Matthew 12:43-45 “When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he walketh through dry places, seeking rest, and findeth none. Then he saith, I will return into my house from whence I came out; and when he is come, he findeth [it] empty, swept, and garnished. Then goeth he, and taketh with himself seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter in and dwell there: and the last [state] of that man is worse than the first. Even so shall it be also unto this wicked generation.” In this Parable, the “Householder” evicted the evil, and that wicked “Cockroach of Temptation,” but then they failed to quickly install Jesus on the throne of their heart, so wickedness came right back on in like a flood, and then brought in even more wickedness and evil than what was there before, and this brought in total destruction which so soon eventuated, just like our little Cockroach, they just brought in all those they could find just like themselves, and the end result is disastrous. So how well do we handle the “Cockroach of Temptation?” Do we give it the instant quick big flick, sending it instantly on its way, or do we delay an instant response, thus we let it gain precious ground in our soul to claim as theirs, to camp on and to inhabit and to therefore contaminate, and thus it brings in more and worse, to our eternal destruction?
James 4:7 “Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” Hebrews 3:13 “But exhort one another daily, while it is called Today; lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.” James 4:8-10 “Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse [your] hands, [ye] sinners; and purify [your] hearts, [ye] double minded. Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning, and [your] joy to heaviness. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.” James 4:17 “Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth [it] not, to him it is sin.” Sin will devour you, waste you all away in this short life, and then remove any chance of ever living in Eternity, Wages of Sin [Rom 6:23], and land you up in the trash bin, as the old Hymn says, “Yield not to temptation, for yielding is sin.”
So what is the solution, that very best method to combat “Temptation?” One evangelist recommends that you “Instantly Blast Temptation with a Prayer.” Send it packing, deny it any ground to inhabit, and just give it the instant “Big Flick.” Shift your thoughts to a new subject, break out in singing praise to God, praise God from a thankful heart for his abundant blessings. This author has penned it this way, and I Quote; “Choose poverty, reproach, separation from friends, or any suffering, rather than to defile the soul with sin. Death before dishonor or the transgression of God’s law, should be the motto of every Christian. As a people professing to be reformers, treasuring the most solemn, purifying truths of God’s word, we must elevate the standard far higher than it is at the present time. Sin and sinners in the church must be promptly dealt with, that others may not be contaminated. Truth and purity require that we make more thorough work to cleanse the camp from Achan’s. Let those in responsible positions not suffer sin in anyone. Show them that he must either put away their sins or be separated from the church. {CH 626}
To adapt the last of this Quote, we get this, “As a people professing to be reformers, treasuring the most solemn, purifying truths of God’s word, we must elevate the standard far higher than it is at the present time. Temptation and Sin must be quickly and promptly dealt with, that others may not be thus contaminated. Truth and purity require that we make more thorough work to cleanse the life of any defiling Cockroaches of Temptation.” So how long do we delay, when a “Cockroach of Temptation,” comes scampering up to you, remember that the longer you delay, the more ground it gains in your soul, just like weeds, they quickly gain roots, and the longer you delay and leave them to flourish, the harder it is to eradicate them. 2 Timothy 4:2 “Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine.” We need to be very instant when any “Cockroaches of Temptation,” come scampering anywhere near your Soul.
1 Corinthians 10:13 “There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God [is] faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear [it].” James 1:12 “Blessed [is] the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him.” Let us be swift to action, sending any “Cockroach of Temptation” spinning far from us as we give them, the “Big Flick.”
