Crown of Life James 1:12

Blessed is the man who endures temptation; for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord has promised to them that love Him.



Every good gift comes from God. Temptation seeks to keep God from giving us those good gifts. Temptation comes when a man is drawn away by his own lust and is enticed to satisfy those selfish desires in carnal and worldly ways. However, when lust takes it own coarse, it brings forth sin and sin when it is finished, brings forth death. (James 1:15-16)

In verse 3 we read, "the trying of your faith works patience." What tries our faith? In verse 2 we find the answer; "My brothers, count it all joy when you fall into different temptations." Temptations test our faith. As we are tempted to take matters into our own hands and do what seems right in our own eye, we head down a dead end road for temptation leads to sin and sin causes death. Sin never pays permanent dividends.

Someone has written, sin will take you farther than you want to go; sin will cost you more than you want to pay and sin will keep you longer than you want to stay. Sin destroys life. God gives life. His Words are life. Blessed is the man who endures temptation for it tests our faith and gives us patience, which makes our lives perfect, wanting for nothing!

When our faith is put to the test by temptation, how does that benefit us? Well temptation whispers in one ear and the Holy Spirit whispers in our other ear and reminds us of God's perfect way for our lives. The Holy Spirit lets us know what God's thoughts are so that we can make His thoughts our thoughts. As we come to a decision, we are forced to choose between God's way and the way of the world. God wants us to think back to His faithfulness. He wants us to remember that He is everything that He says He is and that He will do everything that He says He will do and that is what motivates us to stand on His Word because He is the giver of life and all good things.

He wants us to remember that temptation is nothing more than a distraction and a diversion that gets us off the path where His benefits and His blessings can be found and that leads to death, which is the absence of life. There are a lot of people who are alive physically but are dead in every other aspect of their lives. There is no peace or any joy in their lives. They are miserable because of the decisions that they have made and the direction that their lives have taken them and they cannot understand why their lives are in the shape that they are in.

The only thing that can satisfy the longings that are deep in our souls is the Lord and the blessings that only He can give. When we face temptation and we stand with God and on His Word, we shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord has promised those that love Him. How do we know that we love Him? We keep His commandments! Isn't it amazing how consistent the Bible is from cover to cover?