Tuesday, December 11, 2007

Where Needs and Power Submit Under Purpose

Mt. 4:3-4 – ‘…If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread…’

I believe none of us signed up for a ‘tempted’ life on earth, but temptations do come in our weakest angle and time – even as we follow God. Vs. 1 says that Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil – this is more disturbing than comforting to read and to reflect on, because this verse tells us that God’s love does not exclude us from being temped even when we have the power and authority to fulfill our own needs.

We’ve come to the point in our lives where we acknowledge that God has brought us to this point for a purpose. But somehow life takes a sharp turn where we see a great need that we can easily fulfill with our own power. And we struggle with questions like, ‘Do I have to stay hungry though I can turn these stones into bread? I have a legitimate need, why can’t I fulfill it myself?’

Surely those questions were not new to Christ, but what made Him stand through this 1st temptation was His trust God’s word which led Him to this place in the first place. God’s word confines His choices and moves – even when it comes to fulfilling his own legitimate needs.

Can we be content with God’s word in our lives – even when it means that we have to stay thirsty and hungry in our wilderness? Do we let God’s word confine our choices and preference or do we take matter into our own hands? Believe it or not, we live by God’s Word.