H2odevos p4p Lent 2013 “When You Are Tempted”
First Sunday in
Lent
 |
| Luke 4 |
“Follow
me to the place where dreams come true
Follow
me and we can see this through
Follow
me until the end on this you can depend
Follow
me and I will follow you”
Follow Me by Peter
Mayer/Roger Guth/Jim Mayer
Today on this
First Sunday in Lent we turn our attention to Jesus being tempted three
times by the devil. It’s quite
instructive for us because each time the devil approaches Jesus with the simple
but complex word, “if.” So, that is also why I made the title of this devo,
“When You are Tempted,” and not, “If You are Tempted.” Because as sure as the
day is long, you and I are gonna be tempted. There is no presupposition about it.
And yet the
“come-ons” from the devil are so sly and slick that they make it almost seem to
be the right thing to do. First of all, Jesus is hungry after fasting for forty
days. What would be so wrong in satiating his physical hunger by transfiguring
some rocks into a bagel or two? And so it goes. Next the devil tries to get
Jesus to go for power. Nice try, but it doesn’t work. Last but not least, the
devil suggests that even the Bible suggests that angels will come as the answer
to a Spiritual 911 call. So, the devil goes 0-3 on that particular day. He’s
down, but not OUT! Jesus and he will do battle another day.
 |
| by Juan de Flandes |
There is a great
painting in the National Gallery in Washington D.C. by Juan de Flandes. He
painted it for Queen Isabella of Spain (around 1500-1504). Yes, Isabella of
Ferdinand and Isabella. Normally, if a character showed up with goat horns, and
funky feet, we’d know who it was and what he was after. So, we’d take off in
the opposite direction.
But, my
experience is (and I’m sure yours is similar) that temptations normally don’t come
with warning signals such as goat horns and funky feet accompanied by a pitchfork
and some dude or dudette in a bright red suit with a pointy tale. Rather
temptation comes naturally in such a way as to slither its way into our heart,
soul or mind without us even knowing it. In fact, maybe it’s like a computer
virus that “worms’ its way onto the hard drive of our soul only to be activated
at a later date.
Jesus utilized
Scripture passages to ward off the devil. You and I may not have the same
ability as he did to quote the Good Book, but you can be certain that a prayer
like “Jesus, help me,” is quite effective.
I really like
what Peter sings,
“Follow
me to the place where dreams come true
Follow
me and we can see this through
Follow
me until the end on this you can depend
Follow
me and I will follow you”
This cosmic
dance is a promise led by God. When you are tempted, Follow Jesus.
Peace,
rtg
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