Posted by Free Climbing, LESSON 4: Victory Over Sin – God Is Faithful in the Time of Our Testing
God’s Word is our strength to resist temptation.
“It’s an open book test.” Those words can indeed be beautiful to hear in the face of a difficult exam. I remember clearly the first time I heard them in a high school chemistry class. At once my heart jumped because I had not studied well for the test. In fact I hadn’t studied well for the whole year in that class. I thought, “This is a gift!” Sadly, my joy turned to nervous sweat as I frantically thumbed pages and scoured the index of a book I had barely cracked all semester. I quickly learned that, without a good working knowledge of the book, an open book test isn’t much easier at all. I needed the answers now and there just wasn’t time to find them because I didn’t know where to look.
The temptations or tests that we face in our spiritual lives are “open book” tests too. “Your Word is like a lamp that shows me the way. It is like a light that guides me.” “How can a young person keep his life pure? By living in keeping with your Word.” The psalmist says that the one who meditates on the Word day and night is “blessed.”
When Jesus was tempted in the desert after forty days without food, his weapon of choice against the Devil was the Word. “It is written,” Jesus answered three times and Satan retreated. When Satan distorted the words of God, Jesus knew how to answer him. What if Jesus had, like Adam and Eve, simply listened to Satan’s lies and had no response? Rather than being hyper-vigilant and sheltering our children, we must exhort them to be prepared for what WILL come. And when they are tempted they will be able to say, “I have hidden your Word in my heart so that I won’t sin against you.”
It’s an open book test. Know the book.
BIG IDEA: Obey God, resist the devil and he will flee from you.
MEDITATING ON THE WORD:
Psalm 119:9,11
1 John 5:4-5
Matthew 6:9,13
James 4:7
SECTION VERSE:
You are tempted in the same way all other human beings are. God is faithful. He will not let you be tempted any more than you can take. But when you are tempted, God will give you a way out so that you can stand up under it. – 1 Corinthians 10:13
LESSON VERSE:
How can a young person keep his life pure? By living in keeping with your word. I have hidden your word in my heart so that I won’t sin against you. – Psalm 119:9,11
PRAYER:
Thank God for who He is and all He has done for you. Ask Him to grow your desire to know Him and love Him more each day.
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:
- What is your biggest temptation or struggle?
- What way has God provided to help you stand up?
- How well do you know God’s Word? Do you feel like you can use it to resist?
LIVE IT OUT!
- Practice your memory verse (1 Corinthians 10:13).
- Find a Bible verse that helps you remember you can resist temptation. Write it down & bring it to Quest next week to share.
– – –
ABOUT FAMILY QUEST: At Reston Bible Church, we firmly believe that parents are a child’s first and most important spiritual leader. In order to support you that mission, we have created a parent devotional and some discussion starters to go along with each lesson your grade school age children are learning at Quest on Sundays. Our hope and prayer is that this material will help you to engage with your children around the topics they are learning on Sunday mornings, answer their questions, go deeper with them, and find real, day-to-day applications. We are honored to be able to partner with you in the critical task of sharing Christ with the next generation.
michaeljmeyers 