James 1: 12-18
Temptation.
12g Blessed is the man who perseveres in temptation,* for when he has been proved he will receive the crown of life that he promised to those who love him.
13* No one experiencing temptation should say, “I am being tempted by God”; for God is not subject to temptation to evil, and he himself tempts no one.
14 Rather, each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire.
15 Then desire conceives and brings forth sin, and when sin reaches maturity it gives birth to death.
16* Do not be deceived, my beloved brothers:
17 all good giving and every perfect gift* is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no alteration or shadow caused by change.
18i He willed to give us birth by the word of truth that we may be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.*
Today is the last day of ordinary time – tomorrow is Ash Wednesday. I had decided I would go to Confession today to start Lent off right. Today’s reading really ensured I stuck with my commitment and made it there.
“desire conceives and brings forth sin, and when sin reaches maturity it gives birth to death.”
This line spoke to me today. Especially, “when sin reaches maturity it gives birth to death”. That is a succinct synopsis of sin and its effects.
If we “persevere in temptation…” then we will “receive the crown of life”. If we are lured and enticed by sin we will only find death.
When something is born it usually means it comes to life. But in the case of sin if you have nurtured it and allowed it to mature then you find the opposite – sin births death.
God wants us to seek and find the good – Him. But we often let ourselves guide our own way — we let our desires lead us rather than let God’s desire for us lead us. And left to our own desires we are quite readily tempted and easily lured and enticed toward sin.
If we don’t let sin mature we will stay with the “Father of lights” and remain in the truth. So let me hasten to Confession and start myself anew. Let me remove myself from the darkness and stand in the Light. Let me bask in the glow of “all good giving and every perfect gift” of God’s love.
Give God Your Yes 