2009 - Day 4 - Run for Your Life!

January 4, 2009 … Swindoll’s Topic for Today: Run for Your Life!

Passage of the Day: Gen. 39: 6 - 18 [For the sake of space in this journal entry, I will leave it to any reader to digest and mediate on this passage. I will link you here to this passage . ]

My Journal for Today: Any readers with me have probably read the highlight passage cited today. And for those who are involved in the ministry I’m called to lead, BattlePlan Ministry, this passage reveals one of our primary battle strategies … to run for your life in the face of sensual temptations.

Swindoll: “The appeal of sensual lust works like a magnet, drawing two ‘sudden and fierce’ forces toward one another – the inner desire and the outer bait.” And our devotional author is right, … one cannot escape the lure of sexual temptation in today’s world. It’s all around us; and it continually and persistently baits us to succumb to its lure. This was Joseph’s problem from an aggressive and lustful pursuit from Potiphar’s wife. This lovely lass not only came on to Joseph; but she came after him; and finally, after Joseph had resisted her advances over and over, the wife of Joseph’s master, who had been stalking her prey for some time, got him into a very compromising situation. And Joseph’s reaction was a model of what ours should be. He cut … and ran!

In BattlePlan Ministries, we call this the “2.2:22” battle strategy. And this comes from a NT passage, 2nd Tim. 2: 22, which says, “Flee … youthful lusts; but pursue righteousness,… " In life and reality, fleeing any sin choice which lures our sensual sin nature should be our first line of defense. Joseph’s example should be our first choice of action when (not if) we are tempted toward sexual sin. That should have been David’s response when he looked over his balcony that day and saw the lovely Bathsheba bathing; but he pondered there, taking in that sensual sight; and we know the rest of that story and the results of David not fleeing from his own lustful heart.

We need not dwell on this. As the old Nike commercial used to say, “Just do it!” And if you know that you have a past history of falling prey to sensual temptations, do all you can PROACTIVELY to develop specific – yes, even written – battle strategies on how you’re going to avoid potential lures in your life. Some of these may be repetitive “triggers;” and if that’s the case you can do some preplanning to develop “cut-n-run” strategies. Yes, … there may be time when you have to stand and fight; and that lesson is for another day because Christians can fight and win such battles. But once again, the first thing to do is to RUN, RUN, RUN!!!

Swindoll has a very practical note at the end of his devotional today; and I reinforce what he writes with my experience as well. He posits, “I have discovered you cannot yield to sensuality if you’re running away from it. So? Run for your life! Get out of there! If you try to reason with lust or play around with sensual thoughts, you will finally yield. You can’t fight it. That’s why the Spirit of God forcefully commands, ‘Run!’”

I need say no more.

My Prayer Today: My Savior, this is a lesson to which I must continually surrender my will to Yours. So, Lord, show me the way to run first and think later! Amen