In Daniel, we hear that Daniel would not eat of the sinful meat because he had purposed in his heart not to sin. Many great sermons have been presented on this subject. What I would like to look at is something the Lord showed me just a few minutes ago about the practical application of this principle.
If we are to avoid temptation, we need to be aware and be prepared to stand against it. What I found today is that it is beneficial to add extra barriers of separation between us and the temptation we keep falling to.
To make myself more clear, when you keep succumbing to the same temptation, specifically working to add another step to get to that sin, and another opportunity for the Holy Spirit to convict you that it is wrong to do so is an excellent way to intentionally set out to avoid sin.
To illustrate with a rather personal example, I have struggled for years with the temptation of taking candy and other sugary goods that do not belong to me. My sister currently has all the goods left out in her room. Recently, I have started to apply this principle I am discussing here by closing her bedroom door after she leaves for work, thus, adding another step to reach that which is tempting me. I'll keep you posted on how well this works in the comment section below.
(I do certainly hope that now is not the time my sister decides to start reading my blog; that would be shabby.)
If you really want to purpose in your heart to do the right thing, wouldn't that mean putting precautions in place that would aid in so doing? Adding extra steps to a recurring temptation is a great way of practically putting in action the purpose within our hearts not to sin.
A week later, and no problems have occurred. Thanks to the Holy Spirit, this has worked much better than I anticipated.
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