It’s Often Where We’re Tempted
As we continue this Lenten journey through the Holy Lands, we find ourselves in the wilderness. When I hear the term wilderness, I often think of a forest setting—a scary place like the ones in Little Red Riding Hood or Snow White and the Seven Dwarves.
But the wilderness where Jesus was tempted was nothing like that. It was a rocky, barren desert. There were no trees, just a vast, empty landscape. There was no protection from the scorching heat of the day or the bitter cold of the night. And He spent forty days and nights out there alone, without food or support. (Matthew 4:1-3)
That’s when Satan came, tempting Jesus to turn stones into bread, to test God by throwing Himself off the highest point of the temple, and offering Him all the wealth and prestige of the world if He would just bow down and worship him.
Jesus replied to each temptation with Scripture:
“It’s written, People won’t live only by bread, but by every word spoken by God.” (verse 4)
“Again it’s written, Don’t test the Lord your God.” (verse 7)
“Go away, Satan, because it’s written, You will worship the Lord your God and serve only him.” (verse 10)
This situation Jesus faced was extreme. Yes, He is God, but He is also human. Most of us will never face a situation that intense, yet we still give in to temptation far too often.
Jesus gave us an example of where we should put our focus and faith when temptation comes.
Temptation is sneaky and sly. It often shows up when things aren’t going well—when we’re in our own wilderness, struggling through something difficult. Maybe you need money to pay a bill, but you won’t get paid until next week. So, you “borrow” a little petty cash, fully intending to pay it back. Then something else happens, like a car repair, and you take a little more. The next thing you know, you have “borrowed” more than you can repay.
So how do we avoid temptations? We follow Jesus’ example.
We read the Bible, learn and memorize Scripture, and make it a part of who we are. We communicate with Jesus and ask for His help. We can also go to other believers for their help.
But we are human and we will fail.
Paster Lisa shared a personal example of this. She was at a book club supper, and as always, there was some amazing food: sweet bread with icing, chocolate pie and lemon meringue pie.
Partway through the discussion, she began to feel tired, almost lethargic. She got up and started clearing plates and silverware just to stay awake. When she got home, she went straight to bed.
Then it hit her … she had given up sugar for Lent.
She had been tempted by the sweets and forgot.
The question was what she would do next. She could say, “To heck with fasting sugar for Lent!” She could beat herself up and dwell on her mistake. Or she could give herself grace, ask for God’s forgiveness, and move forward with her commitment to fast.
This journey through the Holy Land includes a wilderness. We will be tempted.
It’s up to us to be aware of those temptations, to understand them, and be prepared. Then, to take intentional action by inviting Jesus in our journey, learning from both our failures and our victories.
That’s how we make it to the Promised Land.
