Hello everyone.
Today’s blog post discusses lessons we can learn from the story of Jesus being tempted in the wilderness.
“Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession.
For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.” Hebrews 4:14-15 (KJV)
Before reading the rest of this blog post, please take a moment to read or listen to the story of Jesus being tempted by Satan in the wilderness.
Reading: Matthew 4:1-11
Listening: https://www.biblestudytools.com/audio-bible/esv/matthew/ (The whole chapter of Matthew 4 will be read)
I would now like to share four lessons that we can learn from this account.
- Just as Jesus chose not to create bread to satisfy His hunger in response to the devil’s request, we should never step outside of God’s will in order to meet any of our needs.
Any necessity of life that is gained by dishonesty, theft, or any other sin, is, in reality, not for our ultimate good.
Jesus was hungry, but He would not create food for Himself at the devil’s command.
Likewise, God wants us to know and love Him so much, that we will trust Him at all times and in all things. He wants us to trust that, while obeying Him, all of our needs will be met as He sees fit according to His loving will. Philippians 4:19 , Matthew 6:30-33
2. Just as Jesus refused to engage in presumption and jump off the pinnacle of the temple as Satan had encouraged Him to do, God does not approve of us knowingly doing things that are outside of His will.
Knowingly doing things that are outside of God’s will places us in a position where we cannot ask for God’s blessing.
One cannot plan to do something reckless and foolish and then ask God to bless this action. There is a difference between true heroism, where a person makes a risky decision in order to honor God and bless his or her fellow human beings, and recklessness, where a person makes a risky decision in order to show off or to experience a thrill. Matthew 16:24-25 , Proverbs 4:5-6
3. Authority and worship are serious themes. God has ultimate authority, and He alone is worthy of worship.
When Satan audaciously told Jesus that he would give Him, Jesus, the Creator of the world (John 1: 1-14) the kingdoms of the world if He (Jesus) would bow down and worship him (Satan), Jesus commanded Satan to leave.
There is one commandment of the ten, the fourth commandment, that highlights the fact that God is the Creator and that He has sanctified the seventh day in commemoration of this. The fact that God is the Creator encourages us to have confidence in His wisdom in regard to every area of our lives, since He is our Creator.
The Sabbath is a blessed day, ordained by God for our good. I know I have said this recently, but I will say it again: I want to encourage all of you to study into the topic of the Sabbath. Please study and find out what led to the present state of affairs where most of the Christian world worships on Sunday. I am linking a website here that provides valuable information on this subject.
4. Jesus resisted every temptation by using the word of God.
Each time Jesus responded to Satan’s temptations, He quoted scripture. We also should use the “sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God” (Ephesians 6:17 KJV) when resisting temptations.
This is one reason why it is so good to memorize scripture.
In closing, I would like to recommend this YouTube channel as a good source of scripture songs. The word of God contains God’s truths. I want to invite everyone to join me in my commitment to fill my mind with the word of God.
Blessings and courage.
Learn and Grow 4ever 