Overcoming Temptation

Overcoming Temptation

OVERCOMING TEMPTATION

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 4:10

It is striking that Jesus, who later asserts that He could call down twelve legions of angels to assist him at any time, chooses to face the temptations of the devil in the wilderness with nothing but the Word of God — which is the same, and only, weapon that we have against Satan’s temptations.

It is as if Jesus is showing us just how powerful, just how effective, God’s Word is in the midst of spiritual battle so that we will trust it’s strength for our own struggles. Jesus three times faces Satan’s three temptations by quoting the Bible. What other tools could we hope for than the very one Jesus himself wielded in times of personal temptation?

But these verses do not just magically appear to our minds in the moment that we need them. We must be reading, memorizing, listening to, absorbing God’s Word in every way we possibly can. We must be people of the Book, ready for battle, in season and out of season.

Jesus knew the right answer, from God’s Word, at the right time for the right temptation; we must strive to know and do the same. It is only then that we will be able to, with authority and conviction, repel the approaches of Satan effectively.

Prayer: Lord, as I fill my heart with your word, help me to overcome every temptation of the devil.

Scriptural Reading: Matthew 4:1-10

Overcoming Temptation