Resist Temptation

"Away from me, Satan! For it is written: 'Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.' " (Matthew 4:10)

Lord Jesus in His extreme anger looked at Satan and replied him the above-mentioned scripture. If you see the scenario how Jesus was tempted by Satan, (1) he took Him to a very high mountain, (2) he showed Him all the kingdoms of the world, (3) he showed Him the splendor, the glory, the wealth, the pomp, of the kingdoms, he made their glories to move before His eyes, and said (4) "All this I will give you."

Today we work hard, struggle a lot, shed our sweat as blood, strive for longer hours, why?—just to gain something in this mere world: some glory, some honor, some fame, some name, some wealth, etc. All this was offered to Jesus, but on one condition. What is that—"if you will bow down and worship me". Its a similar scenario where we too are offered all such so-called glorious prizes, but on the same one condition. Where are we heading towards? Whose words are we listening to? How are we reacting to such situations? Now, the temptation is clear. The offers are clear. The condition is also clear. But let us know look into Jesus' reply. Before answering Satan's statement, He condemned him as "Away from me, Satan!"

Discerning the Words

First, Satan in the former two temptations, tried to win Jesus with the word of God, the works of God, the attributes of God. But in his last attempt, he tried Jesus in his own deceiving words—the words that are not from the word of God. Secondly, Satan showed the riches of the world, the glories of the world, the fame of the world, the wealth of the world to Jesus when he saw Him in an abandoned state—forty days and nights of fasting, hunger and thirst, and wilderness. Finally, he wants Jesus to fall down and worship him.

Jesus discerned that the words that came from the mouth of Satan are not from the Word of God, rather they are his own mere faltery words, deceiving words. We at times forget to discern the author and source of the words we hear. But God wants us to be careful, wants our eyes and ears to be open always to temptations, to the words we hear. In addition, many a times we would have been in a state of complete wipe out, discouraged, left alone, badly wanting for some help, need some upliftment. But we have to be careful enough to things what we have been offered. The things we have been offered may be the ones we longed for a long time; those may be the ones of our expectations; our desires; our goals. But even at such times, let us have the strength to discern from whom we have been offered and in what notion.

Once Jesus discerned the words of Satan, He condemned Him. Why? He could not tolerate the words "if you will bow down and worship me", which are not the Words of God. The scene before His eyes was clear, catchy, and glorious—but how did He reacted? He immediately condemned Satan—why? It is abominable. He could not accept the very word to bow down and worship him. Why? It is just an indignation, it reflects on the honour of God the Father, to whom alone our worship is to be. The first commandment God gave to His people is "Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve". Why He is the only one to be worshipped? We can give thousands of reasons why He alone is worthy of such honour. Let us see few alone so as to build our faith in Him:

• He is the God in the highest. He is the Creator, who created us in His own image and likeness, breathed His own breath and gave us life. He is the one and true God.
• He is a great and marvelous God. In order to save the people created in His own image, He sent His only begotten Son . He gave His Son as a living sacrifice to redeem us from the bondages of sin.
• He is the God soon going to come to take us to be with Him for ever and ever in eternity.
• Our very existence is to worship Him with all our hearts, soul, and mind.

Dear friends, let us not be afraid of the situations we face. Let us resist the temptations with the Word of God as Jesus did, and make Satan or the situations flee away from us when it demands something from us which is not from the Word of God. Speak out against the situation boldly with the Word of God. God reminds us that He will not allow us to be tempted beyond our capacity. So let us arm ourselves with Whe word of God and resist evil. May His grace be with us!