Let anyone who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall. 1 Corinthians 10:12
Robert Murray McCheyne was a pastor known for his passionate pursuit of a godly life. When he was in his twenties, he wrote a piece called “Personal Reformation,” in which he journaled some observations about his own heart.
“I am tempted to think that I am now an established Christian… I may venture very near the temptation, nearer than other men. This is a lie of Satan. I might as well speak of gunpowder getting by habit a power of resisting fire, so as not to catch the spark… The seeds of all sins are in my heart, and perhaps all the more dangerously that I do not see them.”
Never imagine that you are beyond any temptation. The roots of every kind of sin lie in the flesh of even the godliest believer. A. W. Pink says, “The ‘flesh’ in the believer is no different and no better than the flesh in an unbeliever.” If the Spirit of God, who gives grace and restrains sin, were taken from any of us, there is no telling what we might do.
Are you realistic about what you are up against? Do you think that you can live with integrity if you do not seek the help of God in prayer and draw strength from his Word? Do you think that you can keep some area of your life unsubmitted to the lordship of Christ and not have that destroy you?
