Matt 4:1 Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by
the devil.(NIV)
After the humble act of submitting to
John’s baptism and receiving the affirmation of his Father, Jesus is led into
the wilderness. After a ‘spiritual’ high Jesus faces hardship and temptation.
Jesus is not a victim assailed by difficult circumstances but is drawn by the
Spirit into a time of testing and suffering. Jesus has prepared a long time for
this meeting with the devil. He has made God’s word a light for his path that
he might not sin. There is no comfortable, easy short cut. The devil offers Jesus
alternatives in the wilderness to the life of obedience and suffering the Father
has called him to but refuses to accept them. Are we ready to accept and allow
God to use trails and difficulties in our lives or are we desperately looking
for a way out?
Father
help me to avoid the easy way out and embrace trials as a necessary good.
Embracing trials as a necessary good certainly flies in the face of much popular theology.
ReplyDeletePassion for Jesus is about how much we are willing to suffer for Him, the problem is most of us in the Western world are not willing!
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