Dear Parents,
Our time in High Life this Sunday morning was spent studying Jesus’ time of temptation in the desert from Matthew chapter 4. We unpacked a lot of great truths from these verses.
The first thing that we noted about this situation is that the Scripture clearly states that Jesus was led by the Holy Spirit into the desert to fast and be tempted. Now this does not mean that God is tempting Jesus, but it does show us that sometimes God leads us into places of deprivation and allows us to experience temptation. He often has things for us to learn in these “deprived” places.
Jesus’ answer to the first temptation — to turn stones to bread — shows that he is unwilling to remove himself from the place of deprivation in which God has placed him. He quotes Deuteronomy 8: “Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.” Jesus shows us that it is more important to obey the words of God than to be comfortable in our physical state.
In his second temptation, Jesus is asked to throw himself down from the top point of the temple, an act which would clearly demonstrate his deity. But Jesus refuses. What would be so wrong about revealing his identity to everyone? Jesus answer — “Do not put the Lord your God to the test” — shows that an action such as this would demonstrate a lack of trust in God. Jesus does not need to do something grandiose to prove that he is God. He trusts in God’s perfect plan for revealing who Jesus is to just the right people at just the right time. In the same way, I find that we often enter into sin when we do not fully trust God. We take matters into our own hands, whatever the situation may be, to try and force it to work out just as we desire, rather than waiting on God to work on our behalf.
In his third and final temptation, Jesus is offered all the kingdoms of the world. I can almost hear the claim, “All of this can be yours, for just the low, low price of… “ bowing down and worshipping Satan. Well, clearly we Christians jolt at the thought of bowing down to Satan, but, I think this passage shows us that we do it in small ways every day. Every day we have the choice between now, the kingdom of this earth, and the future, a reward in heaven. Every day I can choose this world and what it offers me, or I can choose to wait on a reward because I’m living with a heavenly goal and mindset. It’s a harder choice to make than it sounds. Each day we have to choose to reject what this world offers us, and each day we have to choose God’s way.
One of the biggest challenges that I issued to the youth this Sunday was the challenge to know Scripture. Jesus resists all of these temptations by quoting the Word of God. As humans, we are just silly to think that we can stand up to temptation by our own power. If Jesus needed the Word of God, then I need it too. But how can I use it to stand if I don’t know what it says? I’m not asking the youth to memorize the whole Bible, but I did challenge them to find a verse that speaks to their “pitfall,” the sin that entangles them most frequently, and to memorize that verse to help them stand up against that temptation.
If there is any way that we can assist your teens or your family, please do not hesitate to let us know!
Blessings,
Catherine