Devotion

Temptation 

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." (Matthew 4: 1 - 3).

This week we are looking at Jesus in the wilderness and how he was able to resist temptation as part of our Chapel talk on Friday. We can see from the passage in Matthew that after Jesus was baptised, God’s Spirit led Him into the wilderness. A wilderness is like a big, empty place with no food or water. Jesus stayed there for 40 days and 40 nights, and He didn’t eat anything! He must have been very hungry as we see in the passage. 

Then, the devil came to Jesus and tried to tempt Him. Firstly, the devil said, “If you are the Son of God, turn these stones into bread.” But Jesus said, “People don’t just live on bread, but on every word that comes from God!” (Jesus knew that trusting God was more important than just food.)    Then, the devil took Jesus to the top of the temple and told Him to jump off, saying, “God’s angels will catch You.” But Jesus said, “We shouldn’t test God!” (Jesus knew we should trust God without trying to force Him to prove something.)    Finally, the devil showed Jesus all the kingdoms of the world and said, “I will give You everything if You bow down and worship me.” But Jesus said, “Go away, Satan! The Bible says we should worship only God!” After that, the devil left, and angels came to take care of Jesus.

What a passage and there is so much that we can learn from Jesus example in terms of resisting temptation. Jesus said no to temptation – He didn’t do the wrong things Satan told Him to do. He used the Bible to help Him – Jesus remembered what God’s Word said and used it to answer the devil.  We can resist temptation too! – When we are tempted to do something wrong, we can pray and remember what God says in the Bible.

Dear God, 

Thank You for the example of faith and ways that we can rely on you to help us in resisting temptation. Help us to trust in you and we give thanks for the example of your Son Jesus. In Jesus' name, Amen.

Blessings!

Will Wallace

Principal