A Way of Escape

Have you ever visited one of those “Escape Rooms” where the goal is try to work as a team to discover and decipher all the clues that lead to a key that opens the door letting you out of the room before the allotted time runs out? Some clues are so simple while others so complex you wonder who and the heck came up with them to begin with. In many cases your heart is pounding as you work frantically against time trying to piece them all together. But in the end, win or lose its just a game.

Life is no game but in many ways can feel like a giant “Escape Room” for the Christian where every day we are faced with sin and temptation all the while seeking to find a way of escape. Unfortunately sin and temptation are no laughing matter and the consequences of not escaping their clutches are far reaching. As one pastor put it, “The danger of disqualification should produce not despair but humility, spurring us on to a deep reliance on God’s perfect faithfulness. Yes, temptation is common, but God is faithful. Rather than yield to sin, we are to flee from it. And we can hold fast to the truth that when we are tempted to fall into sin, God will always give us a way out. Always.”

The key word being “Always” as 1 Corinthians 10:12-13 reminds us, “If you think you are standing strong, be careful not to fall. 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.” The difference between an “Escape Room” and escaping temptation and sin is in an Escape Room your success is left up to you and your team where in life, successfully escaping temptation and sin is made possible by keeping our eyes on Jesus and following Him. Many people succumb to temptation and sin claiming to have missed the “clues” as they relied on their own strength where as those who successfully overcome do so for the simple fact they don’t look for clues but instead, run!

Our victory over temptation and sin doesn’t come by figuring out all the reasons why we are tempted. Our victory is realized when we just turn and run away. Don’t walk, run when you are tempted. Head straight for the door, remembering Jesus is the door just as He said in John 10:9, “I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture.” Jesus is and “Always” will be our way of escape! Keep your eyes on Him and win!

I LOVE YOU!