duties in the strength of His grace.
4. We must resist our daily temptations and fulfil our daily duties in the strength of His grace. Every day brings with it its own temptations. Our Master understood this when He taught us to pray, as regularly as we ask for our daily bread, that we might not be led into temptation. There is no business we undertake, nor any enjoyment we partake in, that is free from snares. Satan uses every opportunity to assault us and seeks to draw us into sin. Sin is the great evil that we must constantly guard against, as Nehemiah resolved: That I should be afraid, and do so, and sin (Nehemiah 6:13). The only way to secure ourselves is by waiting on God throughout the day. We must not only begin our day by placing ourselves under the protection of His grace, but we must remain under its shelter all day. We must not only go forth in His strength but continue in dependence upon His promise—that His grace is sufficient for us and that He will not allow us to be tempted beyond what we can bear.
Our waiting on God equips us with the best arguments for resisting temptation and with strength sufficient for each day: Be strong in the Lord, and in the power of His might (Ephesians 6:10). This is what it means to wait on the Lord throughout the day.
We have duties to perform and many opportunities to speak good words and do good works. However, we must recognise that we are not sufficient in ourselves for any good thing—not even to think a good thought. Therefore, we must wait upon God, seek Him, and depend on Him for the light and fire, wisdom and zeal, necessary to properly discharge our duties. By His grace, we will not only be fortified against every evil word and deed but also equipped for every good word and deed. From the fullness that is in Jesus Christ, we must continually draw grace for grace by faith: grace for every gracious exercise and grace to help in every time of need.