WORTH THE WAIT
DAY 78:When I was in third grade I faced a temptation so great, I could not resist. It was Christmastime and the smallest package under the tree had my name on it. I had no idea what it could be. Every day that went by I became more and more curious. I had to know what was in the beautiful tiny package under the tree with my name on it. Then one holiday afternoon, while the whole family was out in the yard, I sneaked in and secretly unwrapped the gift. It was so thrilling. I carefully unsealed the tape on one end and slid the surprise out into my hand. It was a shiny new harmonica. I didn't dare blow it. Instead, I slid it back in the paper and taped the end up as good as new.
For the next five days I was miserable. I was guilt ridden that I had opened the gift without my parents permission. I worried about how I would act surprised when I opened it for real. All the joy of my gift had completely evaporated. It was still under the tree. It still had my name on it. It was mine; but oh how I wished I would have waited for Christmas morning and received it when my parents had intended to give it to me. The gift was spoiled. To this day, I have no musical talent. I laugh now wondering if that was my punishment for being so impatient.
Way back then I could have used the insight I received from the passage of Luke I read today. Luke records a very critical scene in Jesus life that precedes His public ministry. After being baptized by John, Jesus draws away into the dessert for a period of 40 days of fasting. Scripture says that it was the Spirit who led Him there and Satan who met Him there.
The story is a familiar one. While Jesus is physically weak from hunger and isolated, Satan comes and tempts Him. First, he tempted Him to break His commitment to fast by using miraculous powers to satisfy Himself.
3 The devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread.”
Then he tempted Him by offering world domination.
5 The devil led him up to a high place and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. 6 And he said to him, “I will give you all their authority and splendor; it has been given to me, and I can give it to anyone I want to. 7 If you worship me, it will all be yours.”
Finally, Satan tempted Him to test God's promise to care for Him.
9 The devil led him to Jerusalem and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down from here. 10 For it is written:
“‘He will command his angels concerning you
to guard you carefully"
We often hear that it was the power of Jesus quoting scripture that defeated Satan and drove Him away. I won't dispute that since I believe in God's Word as a sword. However, I believe what happened was much deeper than just using Scripture as a weapon. More than brandishing it against Satan, I believe God's word actually bolstered Jesus.
While He is fully God, Jesus is also fully man, and at this point, He was a fully weak man who had not eaten or drank anything in almost 40 days. His human body was weak and weary. Satan, who is a prowling lion, waited until He was at His most vulnerable... and then he did something very tricky. He didn't offer Jesus a fancy palace. He didn't offer Him beautiful women. He didn't offer Him money.
Satan offered Jesus the only things Satan thought might temp Him - Satan offered to give Jesus what God had already promised He would have.
Satan tempted Jesus to gain what God had already promised without waiting for God to provide them. God had already declared that His Son would have miraculous powers, sovereignty over the whole earth, and God's favor. These were all things that He was fully entitled to. They had Jesus' name on them, so to speak.
Satan's offer to claim them now must have been a great temptation since they really belonged to Jesus anyway. And if He gave in, He could avoid all the suffering He knew lay before Him and still get what God had already declared belonged to the Son of God. All the glory - none of the suffering. All the gain - none of the wait. A shortcut to the good life God had promised - with a few strings, of course. It was a powerful temptation.
Jesus did the only thing He could to guard Himself - He focused on the Promise Keeper rather than focusing on what was promised. He didn't argue with Satan about what He did or did not deserve, what was promised or what wasn't. I suspect that He quoted the powerful words of God as a way to focus on God - instead of Himself, the promises or the temptations. As soon as it was clear to Satan that Jesus had fixed His eyes firmly on His Father, he must have known it was fruitless to continue - so "he left him until an opportune time."
Like a package with my name written all over it, there are certain things that God has promised will be mine (and yours).
It will be all the sweeter when the good things God wants to give me come directly from His hands to mine in His good time.
Day 78 of 365
Numbers 30
Numbers 31
Luke 4:1-30
Psalm 63:1-11
Proverbs 11:20-21
For the next five days I was miserable. I was guilt ridden that I had opened the gift without my parents permission. I worried about how I would act surprised when I opened it for real. All the joy of my gift had completely evaporated. It was still under the tree. It still had my name on it. It was mine; but oh how I wished I would have waited for Christmas morning and received it when my parents had intended to give it to me. The gift was spoiled. To this day, I have no musical talent. I laugh now wondering if that was my punishment for being so impatient. Way back then I could have used the insight I received from the passage of Luke I read today. Luke records a very critical scene in Jesus life that precedes His public ministry. After being baptized by John, Jesus draws away into the dessert for a period of 40 days of fasting. Scripture says that it was the Spirit who led Him there and Satan who met Him there.
The story is a familiar one. While Jesus is physically weak from hunger and isolated, Satan comes and tempts Him. First, he tempted Him to break His commitment to fast by using miraculous powers to satisfy Himself.
3 The devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread.”
Then he tempted Him by offering world domination.
5 The devil led him up to a high place and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. 6 And he said to him, “I will give you all their authority and splendor; it has been given to me, and I can give it to anyone I want to. 7 If you worship me, it will all be yours.”
Finally, Satan tempted Him to test God's promise to care for Him.
9 The devil led him to Jerusalem and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down from here. 10 For it is written:
“‘He will command his angels concerning you
to guard you carefully"
We often hear that it was the power of Jesus quoting scripture that defeated Satan and drove Him away. I won't dispute that since I believe in God's Word as a sword. However, I believe what happened was much deeper than just using Scripture as a weapon. More than brandishing it against Satan, I believe God's word actually bolstered Jesus.
While He is fully God, Jesus is also fully man, and at this point, He was a fully weak man who had not eaten or drank anything in almost 40 days. His human body was weak and weary. Satan, who is a prowling lion, waited until He was at His most vulnerable... and then he did something very tricky. He didn't offer Jesus a fancy palace. He didn't offer Him beautiful women. He didn't offer Him money.
Satan offered Jesus the only things Satan thought might temp Him - Satan offered to give Jesus what God had already promised He would have.
Satan tempted Jesus to gain what God had already promised without waiting for God to provide them. God had already declared that His Son would have miraculous powers, sovereignty over the whole earth, and God's favor. These were all things that He was fully entitled to. They had Jesus' name on them, so to speak.
Satan's offer to claim them now must have been a great temptation since they really belonged to Jesus anyway. And if He gave in, He could avoid all the suffering He knew lay before Him and still get what God had already declared belonged to the Son of God. All the glory - none of the suffering. All the gain - none of the wait. A shortcut to the good life God had promised - with a few strings, of course. It was a powerful temptation.
Jesus did the only thing He could to guard Himself - He focused on the Promise Keeper rather than focusing on what was promised. He didn't argue with Satan about what He did or did not deserve, what was promised or what wasn't. I suspect that He quoted the powerful words of God as a way to focus on God - instead of Himself, the promises or the temptations. As soon as it was clear to Satan that Jesus had fixed His eyes firmly on His Father, he must have known it was fruitless to continue - so "he left him until an opportune time."
Like a package with my name written all over it, there are certain things that God has promised will be mine (and yours).
- He has promised to supply every need I have
- He promised that His grace is sufficient for anything I go through
- He has promised that every single thing in my life will work together for good
- He has promised that if I call on the name of Jesus I will be saved
- He has promised me eternal life and an inheritance
It will be all the sweeter when the good things God wants to give me come directly from His hands to mine in His good time.
Day 78 of 365
Numbers 30
Numbers 31
Luke 4:1-30
Psalm 63:1-11
Proverbs 11:20-21
Comments
Post a Comment