Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, left the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, 2 where for forty days he was tempted by the devil. He ate nothing during those days, and at the end of them he was hungry. 3 The devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread.”
4 Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone.’”
5 The devil led him up to a high place and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. 6 And he said to him, “I will give you all their authority and splendor; it has been given to me, and I can give it to anyone I want to. 7 If you worship me, it will all be yours.”
8 Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God and serve him only.’”
9 The devil led him to Jerusalem and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down from here. 10 For it is written:
“‘He will command his angels concerning you
to guard you carefully;
11 they will lift you up in their hands,
so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’”
12 Jesus answered, “It is said: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’”
13 When the devil had finished all this tempting, he left him until an opportune time.
Luke 4:1-13 (NLT)
THE LORD’S PRAYER
I don’t know if science still agrees that breakfast is the most important meal of the day—but it is definitely my favorite. I love a good cup of dark roast coffee, some scrambled eggs, and bacon. And what about pastries? Donuts? Waffles, pancakes—French toast??
I think it is clear: breakfast can offer plenty of temptations to us.
When Jesus faced temptation in the wilderness, He relied on Scripture and obedience to overcome it. It is crucial, therefore, that we spend time in the Scriptures and in prayer—but what should that look like?
Everyone’s routines are different, but I try to spend time in Scripture and prayer every day before work. Sometimes that is at home, but many times it is listening to Scripture on my short drive to work and praying before I clock in for the day.
Jesus speaks directly to how we should pray in both Matthew (6:9–13) and Luke (11:2–4) in what is known as the Lord’s Prayer:
And He said to them, “When you pray, say:
‘Father, hallowed be Your name.
Your kingdom come.
Give us each day our daily bread,
and forgive us our sins,
for we ourselves forgive everyone who is indebted to us.
And lead us not into temptation.’”
As we have focused on temptation this week, I thought it would be interesting to focus on that last line. What did He mean by “lead us not into temptation”? God does not lead us into sin—we know that (James 1:13)—so how should we interpret this?
Pastor and theologian Charles Spurgeon said this on the subject:
“The reason for presenting that petition must be because we are so weak and frail. We ask that we may not be burdened, for our back is not strong; and we plead that we may not have sin put before us in any of its enticing forms, for oftentimes the flesh borrows strength from the world, and even from the devil, and these allied powers will be too much for us unless the omnipotence of God shall be exerted on our behalf to hold us up lest we fall.”
We are to be so desperate to avoid temptation because of its frightening power over our weakened human condition. What a humbling thought. Jesus is instructing us, for our own good, to ask God not to allow any temptations to befall us that we can’t handle.
Spurgeon goes on to add hope to the equation, saying the Lord will supply us with the wherewithal to endure what He does allow to come our way:
“God’s way of escape from trial is not for His people to avoid it, so as not to pass through it, but such an escape as leads them through the trouble and out at the other end; not an escape from the Red Sea, but an escape through the Red Sea from a still greater trial. If you, beloved, are exposed to trial or temptation, you are to be made able to bear it.”
Our enemy knows our weaknesses, and he also knows that our strength does not come from within, but rather from our faith in the Lord. So I pray today that no undue trials be laid before you, and that you be given the strength to overcome any that do.
Lee Wilson and his wife, Deanna, have been NorthStar Church members since 2010. They are parents to Everett, Henry and Roselyn. Lee is passionate about sports (Go Braves, Go Dawgs) and has the pleasure to serve on the worship team as a bassist.
