Deliver Me From Temptation

Deliver Me from Temptation

Temptation comes from our own desires, which entice us and drag us away.

James 1:14

What do you remember of your teen years? Were they “golden years” of fun and friends? Or do you wish (as I do) that you had made wiser choices? Word has gotten out about how “wild” Amish teens can be.

Amish adolescents have a rite of passage called Rumspringa (pronounced room-shpring-uh). When they turn sixteen, Amish young men and women are released from some Amish restrictions. Some groups allow their teens to explore life outside their Amish communities. In such groups, parents hope their children will face temptation, work it out of their system, and return to the church.

Some youths indeed reject the secular world and are baptized into the Amish church. Some never return. During Rumspringa some Amish youth smoke, drink, drive cars, and put aside their Amish dress. Some Amish also allow a Rumspringa tradition known as “bed courtship,” although this is controversial within the various communities. In bed courtship, an Amish boy is allowed to share an Amish girl’s bed for the night (although it is understood that only cuddling and perhaps some kissing will take place). (I can’t imagine many other parents of teens being okay with that!)

But current statistics indicate that in spite of what Amish youth may experience during Rumspringa, 90 percent of them eventually join the Amish church. Maybe their time of “running around” does prove to them there is a better, simpler way?

Unfortunately, even beyond the teen years we all face temptation and find our hearts pulled in wrong directions. God doesn’t tempt us, but He does use temptation to expose areas of our lives that are not submitted to Him and to show us our weakness in the face of temptation. The good news is that God provides His strength to resist the temptation when we ask Him. And each time we place ourselves in His hands and ask Him to deal with those weak areas, He makes us more like Christ.

Dear heavenly Father, many times in my past I’ve fallen to temptation instead of standing up under it. Today, Lord, let me look to You for strength when I’m tempted to gratify my own desires.