Learning a Lesson about Temptation

You see that picture over there?

I despise that machine.

While on a family vacation before my senior year of high school, I walked into an arcade in Panama City Beach, Fl.  The quarter machine sat front and center, baiting me to try for a small fortune in quarters.

The object of the game is to plop in your quarter and watch it land.  When enough quarters pile up, the conveyor belt, which constantly moves back and forth, will overload, sending quarters into the prize bin.  It's a fortune to be had for just 25 cents.

I stopped and pondered.  The quarters sat perched on the edge of the ledge.  Just a quarter or two would turn the tide.  I could drop in 50 cents and leave with several dollars.  I reached into my pocket, found a quarter, shoved it into the slot, and the quarter machine won.

You see, one quarter didn't do it.  Neither did two.  I tried three.   Then four.  I found the coin exchange and submitted dollar after dollar to win this fortune.  Every once in a while, a couple of quarters trickled out.  Once a whole dollar shook loose.  By then, I was too far in the hole.  A dollar wouldn't recoup my loses.

All told, I sank $10 worth of quarters into that machine, plus all the stray quarters I won.  I walked away poorer, unhappy and angry.  The temptation of a quick fortune proved folly.

I wish the story ended there. 

A year later, while on another family vacation, I spot another quarter machine.  These quarters hung even further off the ledge.  "No," I told myself.  "I'm not going to do this again."  I started to walk away, only to find a quarter in my pocket.  "It's so close," I remember thinking.

I lost $20 to the machine that year, plus all my winnings.  I've always had to learn lessons the hard way. 

Had I never entered that first quarter, I may be $30 richer today.  If I had walked away, I would have a happier tale to tell. 

The easiest way to stop something is to never start.  Just ask an alcoholic about his first drink or a smoker about their first puff of a cigarette.  They'll wish they never took it.

Satan knows that too.  He knows that the easiest way to derail you is to stop you before you start.

He proved that in his temptation of Jesus.  Fresh off his baptism, Jesus' ministry was getting started.  Before one disciple is called, one miracle performed or one person healed, Satan enters the scene to stop Jesus before he ever begins.

Satan planned to corrupt the Messiah.  He failed.

But here's the lesson to learn.  When you commit to Christ, Satan will attack.  He's going to attempt to steer you off-course.  He'll use friends, family and even your own weaknesses.  He wants to stop you before you do something great for the Kingdom of Christ.

Don't let him.  Follow the example of Jesus.  Stand firm.  You can win.

Today, I don't even look at quarter machines.  I see them, and I walk away.  I know the best way to not lose my money is not to invest it in losing propositions.  I can't be tempted if I don't consider the temptation.

That's what Jesus did.  It worked out pretty well for him.  It will for you too.

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