January 8, 2020

January 8
Running with Jesus

Luke 4:9-12,  And he brought him to Jerusalem, and set him on a pinnacle of the temple, and said unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down from hence: For it is written, He shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee: And in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone. And Jesus answering said unto him, It is said, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.

      I was really struggling with this temptation and wanted to be sure I was sharing truth. In my search I came to understand this temptation by the response He gave. He was quoting Deuteronomy where the Israelites failed to trust in the wilderness when they came to a place of no water.  They had seen God provide food for them and saw him part the Red Sea.
      (Trusting God by Ron Julian shed light on this for me.)  This will help understand what “putting God to the test” means. Each Israelite looked around at the bleak wilderness and asked, “Why has God brought me here?” God clearly was not to be trusted; look at the scary and dangerous place to which He had brought them. However, if God were to apologize and come through with some water, maybe they would be willing to forgive Him and follow Him again. The question should have been settled already; God is there; He is powerful and loving. Instead, each new difficulty caused Israel to question His power and goodness. They “tested” Him by making Him prove His faithfulness all over again. Years later, Moses looks back on this event and warns the people: “You shall not put the Lord your God to the test, as you tested Him at Massah.” This is the verse Jesus quotes when Satan tempts Him in the wilderness. How many times are we tempting God in circumstances thinking we can't trust God in this circumstance? Learning to trust the ways of God is so important in our race of life because life will test us to build endurance in our faith. We will throw tantrums with God, threaten to sit down, get angry and rebel. We must not temptt God during those times.
     Jesus was just about to enter His outward ministry and He is going to encounter so many more temptations God as soon as our slithery enemy lying along the road can approach him.
               

Father help us trust You when we are taken to high places that put our trust to a test. Help us not tempt You in those places. Help us overcome the thoughts Satan places in our minds to lead us off our path.

      Let's trust in the Lord with all our heart.

Tomorrow : The season of temptation is over let’s rejoicing!

Judy Hollaway

Originally penned 2015