Thoughts from the Country: Temptation

Every man is tempted when he is drawn away

by his own lust...

James 1:14

 

Temptation.  Such an old-fashioned word for an ever-present reality.  Alluring, attractive, seductive, enticing - temptation sings a siren song of pleasure, power, money, or all of the above.  All too often, we fall into the pit, chasing a dream that is always just a bit beyond our reach.  

 

Ex-presidential hopeful John Edwards is a stunning portrait of where temptation can lead and the devastation it can wreak.  Edwards is on trial this week for political corruption involving monies he purportedly requested and definitely received during his failed campaign.  The millions of dollars were needed to cover up his affair with a former aide conducted while his wife was battling for her life against aggressive cancer, and to support his lover and the child produced from the relationship.  In the news this morning, Edwards is being called "one of the worst dirtbags" in modern political history.  Media attention has certainly brought his squalid story to the forefront, but the truth is that are thousands (millions?) of people around the world who have fallen for the same tempting lies.

Temptation has long been characterized as a woman - a temptress, if you will.  Singer/songwriter Josh Turner paints a very different picture of a long black train - sleek, powerful, deadly:

 

 There's a long black train comin' down the line,
Feeding off the souls that are lost and cryin'.
Rails of sin, only evil remains.
Watch out, brother, for that long black train.

Look to the heaven's, you can look to the sky.
You can find redemption 

Staring back into your eyes.
There is protection and there's peace the same:
Burnin' your ticket for that long black train.

There's an engineer on that long black train,
Makin' you wonder if the ride is worth the pain.
He's just a-waitin' on your heart to say:
"Let me ride on that long black train."

Well, I can hear the whistle from a mile away.
It sounds so good, but I must stay away.
That train is a beauty makin' everybody stare,
But its only destination is the middle of nowhere.

But you know there's victory in the Lord, I say - 

 Victory in the Lord.
Cling to the Father and His holy name,
And don't go ridin' on that long black train.