May it be the Lord's will to guard me against all evil, so that I may not sin against Him.

  - Patrick, Confession (British, 5th century)

When my spirit faints within me, you know my way! In the path where I walk they have hidden a trap for me.

  - Psalm 142.3

Daily growth in the Lord is the calling of every believer (2 Pet. 3.18). We can become more like Christ, and know more of the power of the Holy Spirit to make all things new in our lives.

However, we cannot grow in Him if we are continually stumbling over the obstacles of temptation which spring up in our path.

Temptation comes at us from two directions - without, and within.

From without, the world and the father of lies continually seek to distract from pursuing the upward prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. Invitations to self-indulgence turn out to be traps of sin, snaring us in a mesh of distraction, wasted time, and squandered opportunities.

From within, our souls, not yet formed unto perfection, are all too ready to follow the law of sin rather than the Law of God. Every temptation that presents in our path elicits a small voice within us saying, "Is it not a little one?"

Whenever you hear that, remember Lot and his daughters.

Patrick knew temptation from both directions. But he trusted the Lord to keep and preserve him. We cannot negotiate the path of righteousness, avoiding all the pitfalls and side-roads of sin, unless we are in continuous contact with God. When prayer without ceasing characterizes our daily walk, we will know more of real growth in the Lord and have less need of being hoisted from some pit of sin - which, more often than not, turns out to be the same one we fell into last week.

Are we serious about growing in the Lord? Sanctification is a continuous process, and it requires continuous vigilance and trusting on our parts.

We must work hard if we would realize more of the Lord's salvation (Phil. 2.12). As we do, looking to the Lord in prayer so that we are able to recognize and resist temptation, we will find Him a present help in times of trouble, enabling us to grow through our temptations unto sanctification rather than fall through them into sin (Ps. 46.1; Phil. 2.13).

Our psalm and Patrick's words can provide a most helpful prayer to keep us on the path of growth in our Lord Jesus Christ.

And so can studying the life of spiritual maturity. Spiritual maturity is a journey of discovering what it means to practice the Kingship of Jesus Christ. You can explore this challenging way of life online and at no charge. Simply visit The Ailbe Seminary and sign-up for SpT1 Spiritual Maturity: Revival. Course materials are free, including books by Jonathan Edwards and Martin Luther and materials from Patrick and Columbanus. We'll even provide you a Mentor to meet with you every couple of weeks, if you like.

Growth in the Lord takes effort, guidance, and discipline. At The Ailbe Seminary we're ready to help you with each of these.

T. M. Moore, Principal

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