Several years ago, a brother met a lady on the plane on their way to Abuja. He chatted her up and took her number. He also got the address of where she would be lodging and promised to check her up. As soon as he did that, he came to himself. He realized he had set himself on a slippery slope. Immediately, he called me to explain the situation. He informed me that he would be meeting the lady, but charged me that I should call him the next day and find out what transpired at their meeting. Knowing that he would give an account the next day shut the door against any temptation to misbehave. Putting himself under accountability was all he needed to overcome on that occasion.

Finally, a little delay in acceding to a proposal can help to avoid many dangers….The devil often creates an undue sense of urgency and puts people under pressure. Resist it!

We cannot stop temptations from coming, but some strategies can be put in place to overcome them. There are several things Eve could have done to avoid the fall. She could have engaged the dominion mandate given to her by God. The devil came through the serpent, one of the creatures brought under her authority. So that fall, in part, was a shirking of responsibility and a failure to engage spiritual authority. When the tempter came to Jesus, he was overrun by spiritual authority. A child of God must come to a point of appreciating the power that is given to him or her. Paul described this power as being above principalities and powers. So triumph is guaranteed for believers. Moreover, rather than opting to eat the fruit of the tree, Eve could have sought a second opinion from her husband. That could have been her accountability group. In our previous meditation, we noted that all temptations involve distortions. Adam should have seen through the distortion that the devil advanced on her. Finally, a little delay in acceding to a proposal can help to avoid many dangers. Imagine that Eve told the devil that she would take a little time to think about it. She probably could have seen the lies in the package. The devil often creates an undue sense of urgency and puts people under pressure. Resist it!