Temptation is a topic for the first first Sunday in Lent. The annual 40-day journey to the cross is a great time examine our lives. Every year the Gospel lesson for the first Sunday in Lent is the temptation of our Lord. The first thing Jesus did in his public ministry is to face down the devil in the desert. Temptation is the bread and butter of the spiritual attacks from the devil. What do they look like? You know.
I’m talking about the koolickle. Not in the mood for the red sweet pickle found at the North Carolina State fair? How about chocolate covered bacon? Maybe you’re more in the mood for deep fried beer? Food is a benign temptation compared to some of the other ones that Satan floats before your senses. The other ones are not always so innocent. The problem is that at times we can’t tell the difference.
The devil doesn’t walk up to you and suggest that you ruin your marriage. He floats a friendship with the opposite sex that is innocent. There is nothing wrong with friends, right? When your time, emotions and energy are slowly directed away from your marriage, It is.
That’s just one example. The real question is what can we do about it? Alone, we are doomed. Temptations are simply too strong for us to handle. We are not alone. Jesus not only defeated the devil in the desert, he defeated the devil on the cross. It didn’t look like a win, but by his perfect life, innocent death, and glorious resurrection, Jesus our Great High Priest buried sin, death and the devil in the ground. There is nothing more that we need to do to be saved.
Now when the Christian takes another look at temptation, he can see the danger for what it really is! There are no evening strolls through the food court at the fair grounds… just to look. We don’t go looking for temptation. We look to avoid it.
Want to hear more? Watch this week’s message taken from Hebrews 4 – Temptation.
Book(s): Hebrews
Tag(s): Temptation
Speaker(s): Fred Guldberg