Ensign: Don't Tempt Me!

All ye inhabitants of the world, and dwellers on the earth, see ye, when he lifteth up an ensign on the mountains, and when he bloweth a trumpet, hear ye. Isaiah 18:3

AN ENSIGN ON THE MOUNTAINS                                       17 October 2014

Parable Playhouse starts up at my church's Sunday school in a few days (on SUNDAY, obviously) and although I find every script proves a challenge to write -- I tend to emphasize the Bible stories themselves rather than some modern version of them that the first through fifth graders might perhaps better relate to -- this one was especially so.

Take a gander at the fourth chapter of the Gospel of Matthew, beginning our New Testament, verse one; "Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil." The first thing we should notice here is that this was a set up to begin with; the verse is written as though Jesus' purpose was to be tempted in the first place!

But is that not a sin? When I was a kid and first read this story, and into my early adulthood I'll admit, I had a hard time reconciling Jesus being without sin (so He can be the one Who bears our sin, our separation from God, per Hebrews 4:15, 9:28) with this story. But check 4:15 again for a minute.

"For we have not a 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." Dictionary.com defines tempt as "to entice or allure to do something often regarded as unwise, wrong, or immoral." And it's someone else who has to do the enticing and alluring by presenting it that way, right?

Enter Satan, the devil.

I deliberately haven't picked out a puppet to represent him because 1) we have nothing that ... umm, diabolical looking in storage and 2) he could very well manifest himself as anybody. Somebody so clever and bright (Isaiah 14 details "Lucifer, son of the morning" as having desired to take God's job and getting cast out of heaven for it),

SO clever and bright that he swept along a third of angels with him (symbolically in Revelation 12:3, where we get the number; 2 Peter 2:4 and Jude 1:6 refer to such fallen angels themselves) is not to be trifled with. And how this story is traditionally taught in church is that Jesus was tempted to do for Himself and not for God first.

THAT'S the temptation we all face -- not necessarily to turn stones into bread, jump off the Temple roof and have angels catch us, or rule the world -- and let's face it, what makes us willing to act on our desires and not in God's will has to have something appealing to it otherwise it just doesn't work as a temptation. And telling the devil to leave us alone as I tried to do with today's title is just not going to work.

What Satan's really wanting you and I to do, what he wanted Jesus to do after His forty days in the wilderness, is step out of God's will for us. And it's not enough to say "go away"; we have to replace the foothold he has -- it may be a small one, but as we all have the potential to sin it is there -- with something that's stronger. Stronger than any temptation. God and His Word will always drive out what isn't Him.

And NO, we do not become zombies because of it. I challenge you to find any evidence anywhere in Scripture where God asks the people who serve Him as Lord of their lives to forfeit use of their active working brains! That's not faith -- the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen, see Hebrews 11 -- that's defiance, and then who's being blind?

The fact is, after Jesus turned down Satan's temptation, he didn't quit trying -- the Devil and those who follow him won't quit trying to get us out of God's will either. So THAT'S why we need God and His Word, to read it, to study it, to apply it, to live it every moment.

The will of God confronts us every minute. So should the Word of God.

David

P.S. I write this weekly devotional to keep in touch, and I hope to encourage you too! If I'm not or you want me to get lost, please tell me -- thank you!

I praise and I thank You, Lord, that we can come to You in prayer and that You provide for all our needs, even when we don't always know what they are. We pray as You ask for the peace of Jerusalem on both sides on the fence and all around the world.

I praise and I thank You, Lord, for all who are in leadership and service both here and abroad. Thank You for the opportunities we have along with the promise of new life in You! AND I pray that we are all seeking and are preparing to have the most blessed and blessing week ever! Amen.