1 Corinthians 10:9-13
Nor should we put Christ[c] to the test, as some of them did and then died from snakebites. 10 And don’t grumble as some of them did, and then were destroyed by the angel of death. 11 These things happened to them as examples for us. They were written down to warn us who live at the end of the age.
12 If you think you are standing strong, be careful not to fall. 13 The temptations in your life are no different from what others experience. And God is faithful. He will not allow the temptation to be more than you can stand. When you are tempted, he will show you a way out so that you can endure.
God is faithful. He will not allow the temptation to be more than you can stand.
Paul continues this passage with a list of behaviours that we should avoid. Sexual immorality (v8), putting Christ to the test and grumbling. Putting Christ is a strange phrase and the best way to understand it is to recall the story of the devil testing Jesus in the Wilderness. He said, ‘if you really are the Christ, you will…’ It is when we disbelieve in the faithfulness of God unless he performs for us.
It is not the easy moments in life that define us but how we react to the hardest ones. In the wilderness the Israelites were stretched and stressed beyond anything that they had expected. They were afraid, frustrated and disappointed. So, they looked for escape and sought comfort in the wrong places. They grew cynical and started to doubt the power of God. They had enough and so they complained. Paul’s point in this passage is that we are not different to them and that the temptations that we face are all the same.
Each of these temptations is like a fork in the road of our lives. It is not just a moment of distraction or self-indulgence but a trajectory change with a different destination to the one that God has for us. The trouble is that we do not look at the destination of these attitudes. Paul wants us to remember that they all ultimately lead to death. Something in us dies when we follow these temptations.
However, he finishes with some encouragement. When we are struggling, we can remember the faithfulness of God. He does not abandon us and he does not give us more than we can stand. He is with us and his plan for our lives has not finished. Not only that, he will show us a way out. He will give us the key to overcome every temptation that is designed to ensnare us and pull us from God’s will for us.
