The parable of temptation

It is almost a parable that Jesus was tempted ... and used that temptation to do His work. I believe he was tempted in direct proportion to how much He walked with God ... and since He sinned never, He thus prayed without ceasing, and was tempted perpetually. As we all are, in point of fact. Please allow me to draw your attention to the twentieth chapter of Luke, where Jesus was tempted twice to answer people who tried to trick him by his words with something other than grace and wisdom.

The first were the chief priests and scribes, asking him from where he got His authority. This was a big thing, because Jesus taught and spake as one with authority, something they didn't have, and so His presence in the temple, as well as his speaking, were evidence of their hypocrisy. Few people enjoy having their faces rubbed in their own hypocrisy - how much more the spiritual leaders of a people? These were people who had studied scripture, knew the words and thoughts of God that had been recorded, and were abusing that privileged knowledge for their own material gain, social influence, and worldly authority. And so Jesus, in addition to being all these things to these tainted leaders, was also a reminder that they were likely also lying to themselves, something that few people enjoy having their attention drawn toward. But Jesus' task was certainly not to appease people but to draw them closer to God. The people at this time were worshiping the laws of God and not the spirit.

The second happened soon after, when the same people who had approached Him before essayed him by way of spy, sending forth someone who appeared as a layman, for the purpose of again distorting His message and intending to catch Jesus by the words of His mouth. Again, I am quite certain Jesus was tempted to abuse the position of authority He had been given - instead he offered the same thing he did to priests and scribes before - a metaphor. This second metaphor was telling because it, even more than the first, led His listeners to His point - He wasn't there to pick on the priests and scribes any more than He was there to take their power away. Yes, both of these things were likely to come to pass, but His motive was simply to clean up the path that the children of Israel had muddied so badly, and to give hope to a people who had been faithfully believing would come.

The reality is that Jesus' approach could so often be justice - wherein

• Those of us who are abusing the stations we have been given
• Those of us who state we love the Lord but don't live it 100%
• Those of us who don't trust Him in the slightest and actually hate Him

SHOULD BE STONED or CRUCIFIED

For that is what justice demands and requires.

Jesus, instead, often doles out mercy like it were candy, aware that some will truly appreciate the temporary nature of its gifting and fundamentally seek after His heart anew when we realize how precious that candy truly is. He said as much when he mentioned seeds falling on fallow soil, rocks, or briars.

Jesus granted mercy to the priests and scribes when He did not bring forth justice when they questioned His authority. He granted mercy to the spies too when he only made mention of the coin, instead of again using the opportunity He held to judge both the spies and the priests.

And Jesus, daily, offers us mercy, not for us to take for granted, but to give us one more opportunity, one more inch of rope, one more life-line, one more second-chance, one more swing at the ball, and I used to think these second chances were there to give us one more day to clean it all up, to newly hearken.

I was wrong.

These are things that need to done - this is true.

The second chances are there for us to realize that, no matter how many times we get up, we can fall every single time. To stop trusting ourselves, our own sufficiency, and to give up trying again to do it all right, and

GIVE THE DRIVER'S SEAT TO GOD

So my call to action today is:

• Take a decision you need to make today and give it to God. It doesn't matter how important it is to you, as this is a beginning decision; the only requirement is that the result must matter to you.


• Take this decision and give it to God to decide, and pray about it. Every free moment, every time you’re in the bathroom, or walking around, or doing something that doesn't need your full attention, thank Him for guiding you, and wait upon the Lord to provide the answer.


• After you've given the decision to Him, any time an indecisive thought about it comes up, give it to God too.

In God's timing, the answer will arise. The method might be personal assurance that a specific direction is the way to go, or it might be a license plate, or it could also be a random telephone call - the Lord works in a myriad of mysterious ways, and whatever way is open to Him will be the way He chooses - often one that you personally will appreciate.

The point here is simple - most of us don't seek God's counsel sufficiently ... and most of us have aspects to our lives that are on the perpetual brink of collapse. Let God's wisdom eliminate those brinks and bring us more in line with His will for our lives!

By the way - The real challenge isn't to do this just today, but every day - trusting Him will lead to increased faith, which will bear more fruit.