READ: Joshua 3, 4; Psalm 95; Luke 4:1-30
SCRIPTURE: Luke 4:5 The devil led him up to a high place and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world.
6 And he said to him, “I will give you all their authority and splendor; it has been given to me, and I can give it to anyone I want to.
7 If you worship me, it will all be yours.”
8 Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God and serve him only.’”
OBSERVATION: After forty days of fasting, Jesus was hungry. He must had been physically tired and weak. Here we read how Satan tried to spoil the purpose of Jesus' incarnation with various means. Satan was able to show the whole world instantly in his attempt to tempt Jesus. This might had been a mental or spiritual vision. With a condition, Satan was ready to give his authority over all the world to Jesus. Satan's tempting condition was Jesus had to worship him. Without dying on the cross, Jesus could had gained the power and authority over the earth. But, he did not do. Because, it was against the very purpose of his mission to redeem the whole world. Jesus responded him with the word of God and said, ‘Worship the Lord your God and serve him only.’ In Matthew 4:10, Jesus' immediate response was "Away from me, Satan!" How many Christians who went through similar temptations had lost their call in pursuit of worldly possessions, positions and power! They think that some small compromises are not big sins and God would understand their situation. We need to understand that anything that stops us to worship God or entices us to worship something else is actually not from God. Notice, how Jesus used the scripture passage when he responded to Satan. When Peter did not understand about crucifixion and rebuked Jesus, Jesus told him, "you do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns" (Mt.16:23). "Today, if only you would hear his voice, ‘Do not harden your hearts’" (Ps.95:8).
APPLICATION: Satan wants all people to worship him. He tempts every person to turn their attention away from God. When I face such temptations of gaining worldly things, the first things I need to do is to check whether it is from God or not. For God does not tempt anyone (Jam.1:13). Sometimes, my lust for certain things may mislead me. Secondly, I should be aware that the devil is "a liar and the father of lies" (Jn.8:44). Then, without giving even a foothold to Satan, I should boldly proclaim what the word of God says. As Paul writes to Ephesians, the word of God is the sword of the Spirit (Eph.6:17).
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