February 5 Temptation of Jesus

Matthew 4:1-11

After His baptism Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.  He fasted for forty days and forty nights.  Then the tempter came and tried to get Jesus to turn rocks into bread, to jump off the pinnacle of the temple, and to worship him in exchange for all the kingdoms and glory of the world.   Jesus retaliated with scripture first from Deuteronomy 8:3,”Man shall not live by bread alone but on every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.”  Next from Deuteronomy 6:16, He quoted, “You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.”  And finally using Deuteronomy 6:13, He said, “Be gone Satan!  For it is written, You shall worship the Lord your God, and serve Him only.”  Then the devil left and angels came and ministered to Him.

There are basically three types of temptation that if not curbed lead us into sin.  Lust of the eyes (want), lust of the flesh (pleasure/selfishness), and pride of life (arrogance/user). All sins fall into one of those three categories….of courses it is better not to sin…but sometimes our weak human nature just lets us down and we trip up…or fall down into sin.  Looking at our actions, and reactions, can keep us from falling deep or deeper into sin.

Jesus gave us such a clear example in this passage of fighting evil using scripture.  We must be careful not to misquote scripture---as Satan did.  We are not to misuse scripture for our own purpose.  Look at the scripture in context.   It takes more than bread to live---seek spiritual food.  Every word, not just some words, which come from God.  Did you get that?  EVERYWORD.  A mouthful---or an earful---either way.

Personally I’ve found that if I have a verse memorized, then when I am tempted (yes even Moms and Grandmas  get tempted) then I can focus on that verse and it keeps me from getting trapped by that wrong thought.   The verse I’ve probably used the most is:  “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself” from Luke 10:27, quoting Deuteronomy 6:5 and Leviticus 19:18.  This verse has brought my thought off some wrong lustful idea back to what is good---if I’m thinking something wrong, then it is just as if I have done the act itself, just as Jesus explained in Matthew 5:28.  Additionally, my favorite verse, Philippians  4:8, is good for refocusing:  “Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is an excellence and there is anything worthy of praise, let your mind dwell on these things.”  What could be better advice?

So the angels ministered to Jesus.  After 40 days and nights with no food, He was probably pretty hungry.  What do you think they brought Him to eat?  Steak and potatoes?  A nice juicy lamb chop?  Some fresh fruit?  Manna from heaven?  Whatever it was you can be sure that Jesus enjoyed it---savoring every bite.

Consider fasting for a meal---or a day and spending that meal time in prayer.  I pray continually for you that you would make good decisions.  Do you focus on the true, honorable, right, pure and good things?  Make those things your goals.

Lord, help me to make good decisions today and guide my family in the choices that they make, too.