Read Luke 4:1-4
The Devil’s Temptations Aren’t All Bad! Right?
After being baptized, Jesus was filled with the Holy Spirit. He left the Jordan River and was led by the spirit into to the wilderness, and for 40 days he was tempted by the devil. He ate nothing for 40 days, and at the end of them he was hungry.
After 40 days the devil continues to tempt Jesus. Jesus was without food for 120 meals so can you imagine how hungry and vulnerable he must have been. If I miss two meals in a row, I can get a little “cranky” or as some say, “hangry.” So Jesus is at his weakest moment and the devil comes to him and says, “If you are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread.”
Jesus, at this time, could have rationalized how it’s okay to give in to temptation. He could come up with all kinds of excuses. But he wanted to stay faithful to the Lord and not give in to any temptation that the devil puts before him, even if it sounded good and healthy. Jesus was faithful to the Lord and combated the devil’s temptation with the Word of God. Jesus quoted Deuteronomy 8:3 which says, “Man shall not live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.”
In other words, I could feed my flesh everyday, but if my spirit starves, I die. But if I starve to death physically, and die because of it, but I fed my spirit with the word of God, I live.
What are some other flesh desires Satan tempts people with that fulfills our flesh desires but hurts our relationship with the Lord?
Alcohol is a crutch Satan uses: we come home from a stressful day at work and the devil says, “Have a drink. Your flesh needs it. It will calm you.” Eventually, alcohol becomes our go-to for relieving all kinds of stress everyday. We make excuses and in the meantime we suffer and others suffer with us.
Pornography is another tool the devil uses to gratify our flesh but hurts our relationship with God and how we perceive others of the opposite sex. Money, skipping Church, certain hobbies, fear, anxiety, worry are all things the devil will tempt us with as a means of slowly getting us distracted from the Lord.
What things distract you, even the things which typically wouldn’t be evil, but one becomes consumed with it and one’s spiritual life deteriorates? But all the while you’re being held captive by the lies the devil tells you.
May we never allow God’s WORD to become less and less important in our lives causing us to spiritually die. May God’s WORD always be the tool we use to fight against the devil and overcome all temptations.
