“Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. And he fasted forty days and forty nights, and afterward he was hungry. And 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, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.'”
“Then the devil took him to the holy city, and set him on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to him, ‘If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down; for it is written, “He will give his angels charge of you,” and “on their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.”‘ “Jesus said to him, ‘Again it is written, “You shall not tempt the Lord your God.”‘ Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain, and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and the glory of them; and he said to him, ‘All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.’ Then Jesus said to him, “Begone, Satan! for it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve.'” Then the devil left him, and behold, angels came and ministered to him.” (Matthew 4:1-11)
Today, like all other times in history, we are constantly bombarded by the temptations presented to us quite often benignly by the devil, causing us to fall into sin sometimes without even realizing it until it’s too late. Here we see that even Jesus was tempted by Satan. It seems Satan thought it would be easier to tempt the Son of God once he’d been fasting in the desert for 40 days, after all, most of us would be weak by then and what might seem like a minor temptation, in reality could end up being detrimental to our eternal souls. However, Jesus shows us just how to fight the sly devil.
Combating the Devil
Jesus showed us that the one of the best ways to combat the devil is by relying on the Word of God, Jesus fought him off by quoting scripture and pointing the Word directly at him. However, we also learn through this story that even the devil can quote scripture and he has no problem with using scripture against us. Again Jesus shows us how to fight that sly devil, by simply fighting back with even more of God’s Words and trusting in God and His power to fight off the sneakiness of Satan.
Satan Offers a “Quick Fix”
Jesus teaches us that the devil tempts us with what he claims are quick and easy ways to get around the true plans of God. He shows us how Satan offers Jesus everything that His Father has promised Him, but only if He puts His trust in His Father’s plans. However, the devil with his arrogance thinks he can trick Jesus in taking the easy way out, but once again Jesus shuns Satan because Jesus would rather suffer for His Father and for us than bow down to this fallen angel and enemy of God!
All Temptations Can Be Harmful
Jesus shows us that even though many of the temptations that the devil throws our way may seem harmless and tries to convince us that if it feels good at the time it must be good, is all a lie. Because by giving into the devils temptations we are not putting our trust in God and that only leads to caving in to even more temptations that can only lead us to dark places where evil thrives. And often when we fall into this trap each temptation becomes harder and harder to turn down because the lack of trust in God, darkens our hearts and our souls can become lost in that darkness.
Lent – A Time of Reflection
Lent, is the time of year when we are suppose to take a closer look at what are the temptations in our lives that distract us from the Truth of Jesus. It’s a time for deep reflection, almsgiving, fasting (that doesn’t always mean abstaining from eating by the way :-) ) Much like Advent when we are preparing to receive the Lord on Christmas, Lent helps us to prepare ourselves for accepting the sacrifice that Jesus gave us on the cross. It’s a time to learn how to set ourselves free from Satan’s grip. And the easiest way to do that is to cast away all of our fears and hand them over to Jesus and put our complete trust and faith in His and our Father in heaven. Jesus did and He asks us now to do the same.
The Only Truth
It’s time to open our hearts to the only Truth that exists in this world and that’s His Truth. The Truth that was willing to give up His kingly throne, come down to a broken world, be born into poverty, to become truly human, faced with all the same temptations as His children, to enjoy the simple pleasures of life, the human struggles, sorrows, pains, rejections, to suffer willingly, like no other, by climbing onto that cross and shedding His holy and royal blood for you and me. His Truth is that His love is unfailing, never changing for all eternity. And the sure fire way for us to reap the benefits of this mercy and grace is to accept this Truth and never be afraid of putting all of our trust in Him and Him alone! Once we do that, it’s far easier to fight off the Evil One and all his false promises and lies that are hidden within his temptations! So give your temptations to Jesus and trust that He will guide you to the light and leave the darkness behind you.
No Thought Police 