Will You Pick Up the Remote Control?
“No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.” – 1 Corinthians 10:13
Have you ever wondered, “What if television sets were endless chatterboxes 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 30 or 31 days a month… with no remote control to turn them off?
The introduction of 24-hour TV viewership, in 1980, was a thrilling and welcomed news to many TV lovers. Some of my friends, then, day-dreamed about the exciting prospect, of watching the coloured screened box all day long. The fact is, whether it is the old, rusty, dusty, big, black, cupboard-like box, of the 70s, like my grandfather’s clock; or the new, sleek, trendy, slim, 24-hour, LED screens of this digital age; every television set comes with one indispensable feature. The remote control.
Yes, the small, black or grey coloured, usually misplaced and indispensable device. Among the many useful jobs of the remote control, the most important one is the fact that we can simply escape the endless chatter of the television set by turning it off with its remote control. It is a welcome escape from being practically controlled by our television sets.
Similarly, our text above shows an important feature of every temptation we face: a way of escape already provided by God. In other words, every temptation we face features within that temptation, an attached indispensable escape route packaged, planned, and prepared by God for his children. What a loving and thoughtful Father He is!
The clues for the escape can be found in this same verse.
Firstly, the temptation is general to every man. In essence, when we look around, we will discover someone in the Bible or around us who had overcome that temptation. All we need to do is, do what they did to get the same victorious result. Secondly, we can handle it. In order words, the temptation may look insurmountable and overwhelming; but God said we can handle it. We must believe God’s word by faith and prayerfully march on to victory. Amen! Thirdly, there is an escape route. In essence, there is a door of escape open and free, revealed to anyone who seeks for it. When we ask or seek for it, i.e., when we pray, God will show us that escape route. (Matthew 7:7)
All these divine help are for those who not only desire to be overcomers in every temptation but for those who prayerfully seek them out until they find them.
The choice is ours: whether to pick up that remote control, shut down the television set and redeem our precious time or become fixated with never-ending TV series that dissipate our ephemeral and evanescent time.
Similarly, my friend, the choice is yours: whether to search out and run to your divinely provided escape route to a victorious Christian life, or shut down every warning signal from the Holy Spirit, and be defeated by our Arch-enemy.
My prayer is for you to prayerfully choose God’s many ways of escape, prepared and made readily available, especially for you. He wants us to live victorious lives because He has made us more than conquerors through his love and by the finished work on the Cross. Nevertheless, this victory can only be realised by those who come boldly to the Throne of grace, to receive help from our loving and faithful Father.
Remember, every temptation has embedded in it, God’s escape route.
Once again dear friend, what will you do? – will you pick up the remote control?
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