Image from angusday.org
Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. He fasted for forty days and forty nights, and afterwards he was famished. The tempter came and said to him, ‘If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.’ But he answered, ‘It is written, “One does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.” ’ Then the devil took him to the holy city and placed him on the pinnacle of the temple, saying to him, ‘If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down; for it is written, “He will command his angels concerning you”, and “On their hands they will bear you up, so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.” ’ Jesus said to him, ‘Again it is written, “Do not put the Lord your God to the test.” ’ Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendour; and he said to him, ‘All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Away with you, Satan! for it is written,“Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him.” ’ Then the devil left him, and suddenly angels came and waited on him. (Matthew 4:1-11)
Victory over anything in life requires good preparation, and spiritual victories come the same way. Jesus prepares for His ministry by spending forty days and forty nights in preparation. Jesus fasted and prayed for those days and nights. Jesus knew that the task ahead would be an arduous one, the enemy was already prepared, and the only way to win was to be strongly prepared. Jesus' preparation is similar to what begins this Wednesday, a period of 40 days called Lent. Some people will give up something as a sign of fasting; a meal once a day, some ingredient that they usually crave, like sugar or sweets; but it is expected that they take up a spiritual discipline in its place. For every ice cream bar you crave, you should pray, not to be strong against ice cream, but to be strong spiritually over the greater things that can tempt us and cause us to fall. Scripture reading and worship should accompany our fasting, and victory will be ours.
Notice that as soon as Jesus finished his period of preparation the enemy hit hard. Coming at his physical weakness, Satan asks Jesus to take care of His hunger by turning stones, that already looked like the bread of the area, into bread. This was a low blow, for one's hunger after fasting completely of all food is overwhelming. Jesus countered back with scripture about how we do not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God. Jesus knew taking care of our hunger is important, but the hunger that nags us worse is that spiritual hunger to know and love God; by being in God's word, we can take care of that and that will take care of us.
The second attack was on trusting God. After 40 days and nights of prayer it may be easy to wonder, where is God in all of this? The enemy hits Jesus there: "If you are the Son of God, throw Yourself down from this high point of the temple." Imagine, taking the Son of God to where God is worshipped and then hit with that question. Certainly, God is here, the devil is saying, and if you throw Yourself down, God will send His angels to save You as Your own scripture says. Again, because He was prepared, Jesus answered, "We do not put the Lord God to the test."
The final attack was on the task at hand. "If you would just bow down and worship me, Jesus, all these kingdoms of the world would be yours." Jesus' task was to save these kingdoms from where they already were, deep in sin, deep in debt to Satan, so He counters, "Worship the Lord your God, and serve Him only." The devil left Him and angels came to minister to Him.
Jesus knew the battle was not over, and to this day it is not yet over, but we have read the book and we know how this story ends! Jesus wins! The question for now, will you win? What are you facing that you could best face if you gave God more time during this season? Instead of fretting over your weight, spend time in prayer and scripture reading. Instead of worrying about illness, go out and do God's work among those who need it. It might bring the true healing you need. If you're worried about tomorrow, win today by standing firm in the promises of God for your life. Ours is the victory in Christ over all that may come against us.
PRAYER: Loving God, I worship and praise You and I thank You for Your love for us. Help me be the warrior against the enemy that You need me to be. Grant me a time of serious and solid preparation to win over all that may come against us. I pray this in the name of the Victor, Jesus Christ, my Lord and Savior, amen.
Have a great and blessed day in the Lord!
Eradio Valverde
