Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil. And when He had fasted forty days and forty nights, He was afterward an hungered. And when the tempter came to Him, he said, If Thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread. But He answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every Word that proceedeth out of the Mouth of God. Matthew, Chapter 4, verses 1-4.
When I was a child, I saw a big bowl of my mother’s home-made butterscotch pudding sitting on the kitchen cupboard. I looked around and couldn’t see anyone, so I sneaked over to the bowl and ran my finger around the side of the bowl. I ever so carefully got a small amount of pudding on my pudgy finger and licked it off.
I thought I was going to get off “Scott free” but I didn’t realize there were spies about and a bounty on pudding thieves. After being told the pudding had to be thrown out because I had gotten germs all over it, my consequence was to be sent to my room. Instead of being remorseful for what I did, my thoughts were, “If I had known the pudding would be thrown out, I would have eaten a whole bunch instead of a little bit. That would have made my consequence much more worthwhile.”
I gave in to these temptations and lost my perspective of right and wrong and I hadn’t even been fasting for forty days like Jesus. In fact, I had eaten a filling lunch but still was vulnerable to the lure dangled in front of me. Now some might think that that being a Scott-free Christian isn’t a major sin but don’t realize that Satan works in very subtle ways to get us to rationalize our actions. He is able to lead us astray without our ever realizing it. Fortunately for me, Jesus didn’t give in to the temptations for food, status or power that we often fall prey to.
Here are some related passages:
*Then the devil taketh Him up into the holy city, and setteth Him on a pinnacle of the temple, And saith unto Him, If Thou be the Son of God, cast Thyself down: for it is written, He shall give His angels charge concerning Thee; and in their hands they shall bear Thee up, lest at any time Thou dash Thy foot against a stone. Jesus said unto him, It is written again, thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God. Matthew, Chapter 4, verses 5-7.
*Again, the devil taketh Him up into an exceeding high mountain, and showeth Him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them: And saith unto Him, all these things will I give Thee, if Thou wilt fall down and worship me. Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and Him only shalt thou serve. Matthew, Chapter 4, verses 8-10.
Since this is an example of the positive influence God has made on my walk with Christ, this may not reflect the whole meaning of the Bible verses.
