Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain
and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor."All this
I will give you," he said, "if you will bow down and worship
me." Jesus said to him, "Away from me, Satan! For it is written:
Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only." Then the devil left him,
and angels came and attended him.
Matthew 4:8-11
Matthew 4:8-11
Some newly-weds had
just moved into their place with their wedding gifts. They had received all
manner of valuable gifts and they were so excited their plan being to lock
themselves indoors as they opened their gifts. Soon there was a knock on the
door and a messenger delivered tickets to a local show from an unknown
benefactor.
While still wondering who the person was, they decided to use the tickets, and, upon returning to their place, they discovered that all of their wedding gifts had been stolen in their absence. They found a note saying: "Now you know". The generous giver turned out to be a conniving, selfish thief! His plan was to distract steal and conquer and it worked. That story reminded me of the temptations of Jesus.
While still wondering who the person was, they decided to use the tickets, and, upon returning to their place, they discovered that all of their wedding gifts had been stolen in their absence. They found a note saying: "Now you know". The generous giver turned out to be a conniving, selfish thief! His plan was to distract steal and conquer and it worked. That story reminded me of the temptations of Jesus.
The enemy of our
souls is constantly on the prowl looking for ways and means to distract us so
he can kill steal and destroy. He gives us what seems like free tickets to all
the pleasures of the world and many would say, "if it feels good do
it!" Like he tried with Jesus his plan is to offer you all that the world
has at its disposal.
Always remember though we are in this world, we are not of this world and thus our focus should always be on things eternal. Many do not realize that when it comes to the enemy, nothing is for free. Like the magician who distracts you with one hand, the other hand is pulling a trick on you. What he is after is every good and perfect gift that comes from God and ultimately the salvation of your soul.
Always remember though we are in this world, we are not of this world and thus our focus should always be on things eternal. Many do not realize that when it comes to the enemy, nothing is for free. Like the magician who distracts you with one hand, the other hand is pulling a trick on you. What he is after is every good and perfect gift that comes from God and ultimately the salvation of your soul.
While many are busy
enjoying what seems like a free ticket to the so called pleasures of the world,
the enemy is busy robbing them of the real eternal riches that God has availed
to all those who will trust in him. As with the couple in our story, soon it
will be time to go home and at the judgement many will come to the realization
where the so called free gifts they were enjoying came from.
The realization of what the free ticket to pleasure will have cost them, will be too much to bear but it will be too late for in that hour they will not be able to recover even one gift of God which satan has stolen from them. Their loss will be eternal.
The realization of what the free ticket to pleasure will have cost them, will be too much to bear but it will be too late for in that hour they will not be able to recover even one gift of God which satan has stolen from them. Their loss will be eternal.
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