Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil…
By: Alexandra Holland
My name is Alexandra Holland. My husband Steve, our kids Eden and Heather, and I have been members at Central for twenty years. I’m a botanist, and I love sharing God’s creation with others, especially through nature hikes.
When I was in elementary school, the bookmark I kept in my Bible had the Lord’s Prayer on it. As we drove to church each Sunday in our blue station wagon, I would study that bookmark to learn the prayer.
Did you give up something for Lent? Or take something on? We’re about two-thirds through the season now. Have you found yourself backsliding? Maybe you got to the dentist a few minutes early. “There’s nothing else to do; I’ll just check Facebook for a couple minutes,” you thought. Or maybe you woke up feeling tired and decided to skip your morning devotion time. We’re great at rationalizing the reasons we give in to temptation. That’s one of the reasons we need to keep praying – weekly, daily, hourly, perhaps – “lead me not into temptation.”
Lent is long enough that we have those moments when we slip from our well-intentioned plan, and left to ourselves, we struggle. But Lent is also long enough for us to create new habits and break old ones. We need to be bold enough to believe, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” (Philippians 4:13).
