Leave Yourself an Out

Scripture Reading - 1 Cor. 10:13 "There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able ; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it. "

During my 25 years as a driver for UPS, I have been given numerous safe driving tips. In fact, for the last 10 - 12 years or so, we have a safety tip given by a driver daily. It seemed like overkill for a little while, until one day several years ago we had an actual fatality in our building. That one event took safety to a new level. I can't get enough safety tips now. I feel as though anything that will heighten my awareness is a very good thing for me. It greatly increases my chances of getting home to my family safely. We have an acronym for our safe driving habits. It is the first letter of each word in this sentence, All Good Kids Like Milk. The A stands for "Aim High in Steering", the G for "Get the Big Picture, the K for "Keep your eyes moving, the L for "Leave yourself an out, and the M for "Make sure they see you". It is the L "Leave yourself an out" that I want to share with you this morning. It not only works for safe driving skills, it also is a very important tip for our daily Christian walk.

We are taught to do certain things that will enable us to "leave yourself an out". We are taught to take the path of least resistance and have a planned escape route. Many times over the course of a day we will be tempted to compromise the standards that Jesus Christ has established for us to follow. We must remember that when we are tempted we are not being tempted by God, instead we are drawn away by our own lust for things. When these situations occur, we must put into practice today's scripture reading. We must seek for a Godly was out of the situation. We are promised in 1 Cor. 10:13 that God will provide us with a way of escape. The key is, to choose God's path of escape instead of giving in to the temptation. We are even instructed in the Lord's Prayer in Matt. 6:9-13 to ask God to not even lead us to temptation, lest we may fail. Keep in mind, you will always have the opportunity of a way out to any temptation we might face. Seek for a planned way of escape, then take it. Another thing we are taught as an UPS driver in the safe driving principle of "leave yourself an out", is to have space on all 4 sides of the vehicle. If you are consistently being tempted, it more than likely becauset you are too close to danger. You may need to create some space between you and the causes to your temptation. It may involve avoiding some of your friends who are not a good influence on you. It may involve not going to certain places that you are pretty sure temptations will arise. Be smart. Trust God to create space for you in these situations.

Be Blessed and Live in the NOW