“Do not lead us into temptation” (11:4 NKJV)
Here’s another verse that bothered me for many years because it is incongruent with the New Testament’s image of God as our “Loving Father”.
Imagine a father and daughter who have a cheerful, pleasant relationship.
Would the daughter suddenly, for no apparent reason, plead, “Do not molest me, Father!”?
A baby innately trusts its parents. The first occurrence of molestation probably strikes the child with a sense of disgusted shock.
Only during the second and subsequent attacks would the child quiver and say, “Don’t molest me, Daddy”.
Similarly, humankind would only beg God “Do not lead us into temptation” if God had previously tried to trick people into committing sins.
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Several years ago, I worked for a boss named “L.K.” He was one of the stupidest people I’ve ever encountered, causing me endless amounts of aggravation.
At my most frustrated moments, I would fantasize about L.K. falling into a huge meat- grinding machine and coming out as cans of dog food.
Eventually, I moved to a different job at a different company.
A few years later, I ran into one of my former colleagues, who told me:
“L.K. had been receiving medical treatment because he heard a ‘grinding’ noise in his head. Doctors could not determine the cause. One day, L.K. was found dead, lying on his living room floor with an empty bottle of pills beside him. An apparent suicide.”
Wow! The details were starkly obvious to me–God had put the grinding noise into L.K.’s head because God hoped it would tempt L.K. into committing suicide. Wow!
If you did that for me, God, I am not thankful . . . .
