Keep watch and pray, so that you will not give in to temptation.  For the spirit is willing, but the body is weak! Matthew 26:41 

A handsome movie star with a beautiful wife was caught having an affair with his kids’ nanny.  “I found I was a different person than I thought I was.  I’m just so disappointed in myself,” he admitted surprisingly.

Maybe we haven’t cheated on our spouses, but in how many other ways are we deluded about ourselves?  How often do we tell ourselves lies about our capacity to do the wrong thing?

One of my favorite Bible stories demonstrating this point comes from the Old Testament, when the people were found worshipping an idol, a golden calf.  Their leader, Aaron, said, “So I told them, ‘Whoever has gold jewelry, take it off.’ When they brought it to me, I simply threw it in the fire—and out came this calf!” (Exodus 32:24)

Sometimes, we even tell these lies to God. One couple in the Bible sold some land. No one asked them to give the money away, but they publicly declared they were giving all the funds from the sale to God, but secretly held some back.  God struck them dead—but not because He cared about the money, but because they lied about their actions (Acts 5:1-11).

We don’t want to believe what Scripture says:  that the heart of man is “deceitful above all things and desperately wicked” (Jeremiah 17:9), and that we need saving. But God knows and has compassion on us.  Of His followers, Jesus said, “For the spirit is willing but the body is weak!” (Matthew 26:41)

The solution?  Jesus said, “Keep watch and pray.” When we do, He promises that we will find “mercy and find grace to help in time of need” (Hebrews 4:14–16).

 

Resource reading: Hebrews 4:14-16