Temptations: they are everywhere. It is as if the collective goal of all the people in this world is to tempt the young, impressionable kids who plunge into reality with absolutely no notion of how to land. This is no exaggeration, for I, seventeen, raised Christian and homeschooled since birth, am the perfect example of the world’s prey.
Until last fall, my first semester at John Tyler Community College, I was particularly confident that I would glide through college without a scratch. My parents were thorough; I did not arrive unaware of all the fascinating new tastes, smells and feels I would be exposed to, but I was totally unprepared for how enticing and alluring all these possibilities would be to me, especially when promoted by boys I had begun to trust and admire. When I confided in my Christian friends and mother, all were shocked by how close I was coming to denouncing all I had ever been taught and had appeared to believe.
You see, I was not one of those common homeschool cases we all hear about: severely sheltered until college days roll around and then dumped unaware among the wolves. My parents invested a great deal in preparing me to stand strong against all the challenges they’d met during their own college experiences. I accepted these teachings eagerly and vowed they wouldn’t go to waste. So it would be expected that I’d be dodging the world’s bullets effortlessly, but in reality I ended up stumbling through the semester with one foot inching toward raves, drugs and boys and the other losing grip on the safety of the church and my relationship with the Lord.
My point is, even if all the ingredients of success are mixed into your soul and you seem to be standing on the right feet, there are as many brands of temptation as there are strongholds in your mind. You could have been raised with all the right tools, your parents could have told everything you need to know, you might pray for strength every day before you go to class just as I did, but when it comes down to it, you are the only one who can say “no,” for yourself. God never abandons those who ask him for help, but if you are walking in a certain direction and you know good and well where it leads, it depends on you whether or not you turn away. It depends on you to cooperate with God.
This is called free will. It is the same sort of free will given to Eve at the beginning of time. It all boils down to a choice, bite the apple, or leave it. The serpent has always promised enlightenment, the knowledge of good and evil, but sometimes he wears a pretty face.
On that note, let me put you at ease by saying that I never really surrendered to all the temptations I’ve mentioned; resisting temptation is not an impossible task. My first semester at John Tyler Community College proved to be a dizzying cycle of reckless near-misses that I am most definitely not proud of. But it could have been so much worse if I’d skidded just a little nearer to the edge. Try to look at it this way: Eve was tempted, God didn’t hide her from that, but just think of how much better the world would be now if she hadn’t given in. Kids just like me will be presented with choices like hers for the rest of time, but, just like Eve did, they will be given the option of making the right choice.
~BP Student Member