Temptation: Notes on Perelandra

"Is it good?" said the Lady.
"No," said Ransom.
"How can you find out without trying?" said the Un-man.
"If you try it and it is not good," said Ransom, "how do you know whether you will be able to stop doing it?"

-Perelandra, C.S. Lewis

C.S. Lewis wrote a trilogy that was dubbed his space trilogy, and I have been reading them for the first time. In Perelandra, the second book, Dr. Ransom visits Venus, and meets the young Lady and realizes that it is the dawn of a new world, and he experiences a sort of "Garden of Eden" experience, with the Un-man being the tempter. But since nothing in God's creation is repeated, this story doesn't follow our earthly story. The debates between Ransom and the Un-man had me glued to the pages. Some parts were chilling. 

I read this passage (above) and had to stop to underline it. The world is filled with this kind of you-don't-know-until-you-try mentality, and this little passage sums it up so precisely. That's all well and good if you are trying spaghetti squash for the first time, but not so much when morals and temptations step into the picture. The wise question that follows (spoken by Ransom) is the one that is mostly ignored.

That second question is why I consciously withdrawal myself from unsavory activities that could potentially lead to something bad. I have always thought that way, but never quite put it into these words. The question Ransom asks sums it up pretty simply.

1 Peter 5.8 
Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.

Temptations comes from all avenues. Satan knows where we stumble, so he is constantly placing "things" (whatever that may be for you) in our paths hoping we take the bait. He disguises it as best he can as something good, or worth a try. And he whispers "how can you find out without trying?".

Keep your integrity. Don't compromise.