Final Temptation

Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. “All this I will give you,” he said, “if you will bow down and worship me.” Jesus said to him, “Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.’ " Matthew 4:8-10

The final temptation Jesus faced in the desert was just like the temptations we face every day. The core of the temptation looks like this: "Take God out of the center of your life and put something else there." It could be a relationship or money or a job or having kids or the approval of a parent or whatever - it doesn't really matter. Satan wins one way or the other. Every time with push God out of the center and put something else there, we lose. 

The irony, of course, is that while we're off falling into these different temptations in the hope we'll find contentment and love, those are the very things that God had waiting for us all along! We just found it too unnerving to have to trust God for those things, so we went out and tried to take care of it on our own. 

I'm convinced Jesus could resist the temptations because he deeply trusted what God spoke over him at the baptism: "You are my son, whom I love; with you I am well-pleased." Jesus didn't have to go get his fix somewhere else - he experienced it and trusted it already.

Talk with God today about learning how to trust that those words of blessing are for you as well.