The Third Temptation

Matthew 4:8-11 Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendour; and he said to him, “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.” Jesus said to him, “Away with you, Satan! for it is written, ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him.’ ” Then the devil left him, and suddenly angels came and waited on him. (NRSV)

What is it in this world that you yearn for? What pleasures, what possessions, what particular thing do you dream of having in your grasp this side of eternity? And what are you prepared to pay for it?

It’s the most natural thing in the world to have hopes and dreams of attaining, as I said, pleasures and possessions, but also recognition and respect, position and power. Those things lure us into their clutches so subtly, so seductively, that they can seem impossible to resist.

But the more we love the things of this world, the further we drift from God’s purpose for our lives. And let’s be clear, it’s either one or the other – the world’s trinkets or God’s plans. You can’t have both.

Matthew 4:8-11 Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendour; and he said to him, “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.” Jesus said to him, “Away with you, Satan! for it is written, ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him.’ ” Then the devil left him, and suddenly angels came and waited on him. (NRSV)

Satan tempted Jesus at His low point when He was starving, weak, bedraggled, having fasted forty days in the wilderness. And when you’re doing your best for God, but all you seem to get in return is a world full of suffering, the trinkets and the baubles of this world become incredibly alluring. Satan knows that. So when He comes at you in that place with that temptation, remember this: It is written, ‘Worship the Lord Your God, and serve only him.”

That’s God’s Word. Fresh 
 for you 
 today.


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