Happy school holidays, everyone.
Some of us only realise it is school holidays because there is less traffic. Wherever they find you, it is always a good time to slow down more than usual. This week, our devotion comes from the events following Jesus’ baptism. After Jesus is affirmed by his father, he is led into the wilderness for prayer and fasting.
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. |
| Matthew 4:1-2 |
The first temptation focused on Jesus’ immediate need. The
tempter called into question the need for Jesus to follow the guidance of the father in all things.
The tempter came to him and said, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.” |
| Matthew 4:3 |
In response, Jesus quotes an Old Testament text in
Deuteronomy, which served two purposes. It made the devil understand his place, i.e., he was not the provider of food or anything, for that matter. More importantly, it shows that Jesus is the ultimate fulfilment of all the Old Testament promises. What Jesus quotes is from the Torah, laws for the Israelites from God to help them live a life of obedience. However, they failed
over and over again. Jesus quoting the same text to the tempter shows that he is the perfect fulfilment of God’s plan for humanity through his obedience to the Father.
Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God. |
| Mathew 4:4 |
God wanted the Israelites to desire his word in their hearts
more than food in their stomach. He was asking for their allegiance to him, to surrender to his guidance and Lordship.
Life as God intended is only experienced through obedience.
The strategy of the enemy is to get us to focus on the immediate, the urgent and the necessary, hence taking matters into our own hands. If we can lose sight of the greater work God is doing in us and through us, focusing only on the immediate, we can exchange dependence on the father
for independence and self-reliance.
At stake was much bigger than hunger. God was rewriting
history. If Jesus only focused on his hunger, he would miss God’s plan.
Thankfully, he understood not only the assignment but also his father’s heart.
For us, the challenge is the same.
The idea that we could give up control willingly, replacing
it with intentional humility and absolute dependence on a God we cannot see makes us very uncomfortable. Yet this is the course that Jesus charts for us.
Remember.
- The enemy will always attack us where we are weakest, most
vulnerable, and when we are not expecting it… It’s always in the little things. - This temptation surfaces when there is an opportunity for us
to grab control for ourselves and trust in our efforts. - This temptation urges us to focus our attention on the
immediate needs and lose sight of what God desires for our lives and our service, as well as destiny.
