Temptation

Rev Henry Hong

Search me, O God, and know my heart!

Try me and know my thoughts!

And see if there be any grievous way in me and lead me in the way everlasting!”

(PSALM 139:23-24, ESV)

“David, take out the parking coupon and tear out the tabs for me. It’s 10am now. Tear out 10.15 for me.” “Mama, that’s cheating.” “It’s OK. It’s drizzling now. No one will come to check so it’s not likely we’ll get caught.”

Have we given much thought about the ways our relationship with God affects others around us?

Or do we think that our relationship with God is a private affair, including our sins?

Take time to read and to reflect on LUKE 4:1-13 (The temptation of Jesus).

The wilderness is a harsh place where our consciousness of thirst and hunger come begging on us to be satisfied. Jesus, led by the Spirit, went into the wilderness to show us that He understands the nature of temptation and would guide us through our wilderness. We have our wilderness experience when the hunger for material comfort takes over and we use others for our self-advantage; when we put our faith on the shelf and put the Lord to the test – “if you would only…, then I will be able to…”; when we think we are in control and say “what good is faith in God if it keeps me back from doing what I want?”

We are to be heartened by Jesus’ victory over sin so that we can learn how to recognize the temptations that cause us to lose our way in our wilderness. By His victory, we come to know the wilderness as the place through which we will encounter Him in the midst of our struggles with temptation.

“No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it”

(1 CORINTHIANS 10:13 ESV).

Only in our perseverance in our faith in Him can we grow in the virtues of faith, hope and love.

Our souls are meant to hunger for God but our tendency is to quickly fill this hunger with people and things.

Let us consider the ways we overlook the Lord’s promptings over this time of Lent. Become more conscious of the condition of our heart in the actions of our daily life. Let prayer heighten our senses to the effects of sin and temptation. Jesus has come to give us life to the full. Let’s not be robbed of God’s gift of life.

“The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may life and have it abundantly”

(JOHN 10:10 ESV).