January 19

The Temptation of Jesus

                Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. He fasted forty days and forty nights, and afterwards he was famished. The tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.” 

But he answered, “It is written, ‘One does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”

Then the devil took him to the holy city and placed him on the pinnacle of the temple, saying to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down; for it is written, ‘He will command his angels concerning you,’ and ‘On their hands they will bear you up, so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.’”

 Jesus said to him, “Again it is 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; and he said to him, “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.” 

 Jesus said to him, “Away with you, Satan! for it is written, ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him.’”

Then the devil left him, and suddenly angels came and waited on him.

Matthew 4:1-11

            What is temptation?  It is an opportunity to choose.  Do we believe God and His promises?  Do we trust that the way that He has set before us is the very best or are we looking for a better alternative?  Are we trying to find a shortcut in order to arrive at a better place without the hard work?

            That’s what Sin is…a shortcut.  Lust is a desire for intimacy without the hard work of relationship building.  Pride is a desire for self-worth and approval without the hard work of humility and service.  Sloth is the desire for rest without the hard work of hard work.  Those shortcuts never end well because they are built on lies and deceptions.  Their foundations are suspect and so they end up hurting us and those that we love.

            Satan was offering Jesus shortcuts.  He did not have to suffer and die to have the world, all He had to do was say a few words and the world would be gifted to him, free of pain.  Jesus knew the cost and He knew that what had been originally promised was so much better than what Satan was offering.  He chose faith and putting in the hard work in order to receive the better reward.

            The single greatest temptation that I face is Isolation.  People are hard.  Relationships are hard.  Trying to explain parenting an autistic boy has been hard as my peers have told me that I could not be in full-time ministry and parent this way at the same time.  Looking back I question their judgement, but at the time I made a choice to primarily invest in my wife and son and my ministry community could kick me out if I did not fit.  I still crave support and encouragement and belonging and the benefits of community.  But community has failed in the past and my fear is that deeply investing in others will leave me empty and alone again, lacking the resources that I need to invest in my family.  

            So I find myself investing in my job and investing in my writing and investing in my family and allowing everything else to fall by the wayside.  I’ve learned how to survive with that arrangement, but then I am struck by something that I was telling my kids the other day, “Our relationship with God mirrors our relationships with other people.”  And I pause.  In distancing myself from other people, I am distancing myself from God.  I want good relationships, but I have indulged in the shortcut of pain-free relationships which has led to limited relationships…otherwise known as isolation which is hurting my relationship with God and my relationships with those that I love. 

            Temptation is a sneaky thing.

A moment to reflect:

What shortcuts are the greatest temptation to you?  What is the better life out there for you?

Refrigerator Art of the Day:

D Age 15