BEING TEMPTED

BEING TEMPTED

In Luke, chpt. 4 Satan temped the Savior from multiple perspectives and at several scheming levels. One has fascinated me in this way: Satan tempted the Creator of the universe, the Light of the world, the Savior of all of humanity to use His own wisdom, His personal infinite understanding, His distinct limitless knowledge to decide for Himself about whom to worship. The Father of All Lies was tantalizing Jesus to worship him, Satan. Lucifer cunningly encouraged Christ to exercise His own will (impeccable decision making abilities) in a way that would self-acknowledge and self-validate Christ’s omnipotence to Himself – – in a “my will be done!” self-promoting fashion. Accordingly, if the Savior would so decide (realizing He could do it in a half-a-second, requiring no great, strenuous effort, no heavy lifting, just a simple nod would suffice…), He would, in addition to the momentous self-validation (“I am really who I think I am! I am as great as I think I am! I am really a God!”), Satan would graciously share his seemingly “godlike” inordinate powers, his self-induced (bogus) glory, and his purportedly self-conferred vast “temporal” possessions.

“And the devil, taking him up into an high mountain, shewed unto him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. And the devil said unto him, All this power will I give thee, and the glory of them: for that is delivered unto me; and to it whomsoever I will I give. If thou therefore wilt worship me, all shall be thine. And Jesus answered and said unto him, Get thee behind me, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve” (Luke 4:5-8, emphasis mine).

In a similar fashion, Lucifer tempted Adam and Eve to partake of the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil in the Garden of Eden. The Serpent beguiled them saying in essence, “You’re a big boy and big girl… you’re smart… look at this beautiful garden you’re taking care of… all by yourself… all these animals you’re responsible for… you’ve made lots of great decisions on your own… you are so self-sufficient… look at how you’ve exercised your free will (decision making abilities) so well… without Father looking over your shoulders and prodding you every step of the way… you’re both so wise, so independent and so experienced… you should be very proud of yourselves, you’ve accomplished a lot! You could use some of that wisdom and partake of this special tree… because when you do, it will help you be even wiser (smarter)… as wise as the gods! And you most certainly won’t die! You’ll have even more power to choose, more autonomy, more influence over your future! So, use your will, use it wisely, based on your track record you’ll be just fine! Your will will be done! You can do it!”

“And he said unto the woman: Yea, hath God said—Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden? (And he spake by the mouth of the serpent.) And the woman said unto the serpent: We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden; But of the fruit of the tree which thou beholdest in the midst of the garden, God hath said—Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die. And the serpent said unto the woman: Ye shall not surely die; For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil. And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it became pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make her wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and also gave unto her husband with her, and he did eat” (Mos. 4:7-12, emphasis mine).

In contrast, the Savior taught us to be careful when temptations come our way that encourage us to use our will (decision making abilities) based on our mortal wisdom (which is trifling when compared to God’s wisdom). He taught us that serving God is the priority especially over the temptation to serve oneself, “…thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and Him only shalt thou serve” (Luke 4:8, emphasis mine). All temptations tend to relate to the physical side of our existence, which makes sense due to the ongoing hourly battle between the spiritual and temporal conflict. Interesting that Christ addressed this issue head-on (how to use our will - decision making abilities) in the Lord’s Prayer, “Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven” (Matt.6:9-10, emphasis mine). Thy will, God’s will; not my will.

The great secret into correctly exercising our will (decision making abilities), is to run it through the filter of: “What’s God’s will on the matter?” If our will is in alignment with God’s, we’re on safe ground to move forward. But, if our will doesn’t align with His, it isn’t God’s will that needs to be adjusted. How sacred and blessed are these four words in guiding our way and lighting the path back to our heavenly home – ‘Thy will be done’. May those words ever be our how our minds evaluate, our hearts yearn, our choices are realized, and our actions follow.

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Dedicated to my loving daughter, Sadie Jane on her nineteenth birthday

Wm. Calvin Hughes | 2/22/2020 | Lake Elsinore, CA