“And Jesus said unto him, No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.” – Luke 9:62

When my children were small, one of their favorite stories was about a mischievous monkey named Curious George. Curious George lived in a zoo, but one day he got out of his cage and ran to the outside world. He was finally free and the other animals cheered him on as he swung through the trees. Just then George remembered—he had left his favorite food, a beautiful red apple, inside his cage! So he swung back to the corner of the cage, reached through the bars, and grabbed it. Only one problem: he could not get his hand back through the bars with the apple in his hand. He twisted it and turned it this way and that, but it would not go through. As he continued struggling, the zookeeper found him and put him back into the cage.

Why didn’t George let go of the apple and just leave it behind? George’s struggle reminds me of what we sometimes do as Christians. Before we were saved, we were trapped in a “cage” of sin, but when we repented and forsook those sins, Jesus set us free, allowing us to live without sin through the power of the Holy Spirit in us. Then we finally had a clear conscience and peace in our souls. Yet, as glad as we are to be out of that cage of sin, we can still be tempted by the sins we left behind. Like the apple that enticed George, sometimes the devil tries to lure Christians back into bondage with sins from their past.

If only we could see the bigger picture in times of temptation! When we choose to follow the Lord, He sets our souls at liberty and blesses our obedience with protection, peace of mind, provision for physical needs, comfort in grief—everything we need. The short-lived pleasures of any sin could never compare with those blessings, so why would we ever look back?

Being tempted is not a sin itself, but contemplating temptation is dangerous. No one can force us back into sin, but the longer we ponder the notion, the better chance the enemy has to persuade us to make a bad choice. Rather, when temptation comes, let us hold on to God’s promises of deliverance (see 1 Corinthians 10:13; 2 Peter 2:9) and follow the instructions in His Word: “Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you” (James 4:7).