Monday, October 1, 2012

Matthew 4:1-11 Tempted?

(NIV)

Jesus Is Tested in the Wilderness

Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. The tempter came to him and said, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.”
Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”
Then the devil took him to the holy city and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down. For it is written:
“‘He will command his angels concerning you,
    and they will lift you up in their hands,
    so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.”
Jesus answered him, “It is also written: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.”
Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. “All this I will give you,” he said, “if you will bow down and worship me.”
10 Jesus said to him, “Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.”
11 Then the devil left him, and angels came and attended him.

Just a thought...
There is no evidence that either Satan or Jesus ever doubted the truth that Jesus is the Son of God. In the temptations, the devil was not tempting Jesus to doubt or to not believe the truth of his identity. The temptations are not about whether or not Jesus is the Son of God, but what kind of Son of God he will be.
Like Jesus, our temptations tend to do with what kind of son or daughter of God we are going to be. As children of our heavenly Father, most of us can resist the temptations to do the horrible things that we associate with evil. Many of our temptations are small everyday things sometimes they  seem like good things, but the wrong good things. Many of us are tempted to be "good people," rather than people who seek the will of God. The today’s scripture challenges us with the question, "What kind of son or daughter are you going to be?"
Prayer:
Dear Lord, Help us to face and overcome the temptations in life as boldly as Jesus so that we may come closer to him! Amen

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