James 1:13 When tempted, no one should say, “God is tempting me.” For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone;

In yesterday’s devotional we saw how the older brother reacted to his father’s response to the return of his younger brother.  His negative reaction revealed much that was going on in his heart that both he and his father might not have been aware of.  Even though he was apparently doing things ‘right’ on the outside, his heart contained much that was not ‘right’.

In the Lord’s prayer there is the passage, “and lead us not into temptation”.  I heard a Bible teacher many years ago paraphrase this in a very helpful way, “Lord, let there not be anything in my heart that would cause you to put me to the test.”  God does not tempt anyone with evil but He does provide testing situations that will bring things into the light that need to be exposed and dealt with.  The return of the younger brother and his father’s response afforded the older brother just such an opportunity.

We might not realize it but this is a primary way that God deals with us.  He allows circumstances to come into our lives that reveal what is going on within us.  Frequently these circumstances involve unpleasant or difficult things.  We might respond rightly – or in the event we don’t He makes us aware of what is within us and gives us the gift of an opportunity to repent!

We have a choice to make.  Are we going to recognize our need for repentance or are we going to ignore what the Holy Spirit is showing us about ourselves?  And if we see the need for repentance and fail to do so, the problem becomes worse!  How we respond affects how brightly our ‘light’ shines in this world.

Think of the illustration of a light and a rheostat or dimmer switch.  The brightness or dimness of a light is controlled by amount of resistance set by the rheostat.  Sin in our lives is a major ‘dimming’ factor.  When the sin is repented of, the spiritual resistance it created is removed and our light increases in brightness.

Hopefully, when the Holy Spirit uses this process in our lives to reveal our sin, we will recognize His working and repent.  When we see this, we can cultivate a heart of gratitude for such workings of the Holy Spirit.  If He didn’t reveal and allow us to see our sin and enable us to repent, we would never change.  This ongoing process is vital in His transforming us into the image of Jesus – and isn’t that what we’re about?!