Lent Day #22

Matthew 4:8-11 (ESV)
8 Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. 9 And he said to him, "All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me." 10 Then Jesus said to him, "Be gone, Satan! For it is written,

"'You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve.'"

11 Then the devil left him, and behold, angels came and were ministering to him.

THOUGHTS:

Jesus has just been tempted to turn rocks into bread to fill his belly and to throw himself off a high height to prove he is God's son. Now he is tempted to abandon his faith in God's plan ... to turn his back on God's will ... and to reign the earth in power and glory. In some ways, he's tempted to do what many expected the Messiah would do: take over and rule (justly with divine wisdom, of course).

He doesn't do it. He asserts that he is God's man, through and through. He proclaims that he will follow God's plan even if it seems foolish at times. He proclaims that God is the only entity he will worship or serve.

We worship many things, even though we tend to deny it. Most of us worship money. If you think you don't, hand me $100 of your money and tell me to set it on fire. I know you can find better things to spend your money on. That's not the point...

What if I were to pull out my own $100 bill and light it in front of you? Do you feel you body tighten just to think about it? Why?

What else do we worship? Many of us worship our time -- how hard is it to sacrifice our own plans to help someone else, especially someone we don't know? Some of us worship technology -- we drool at the excesses of our modern society. Others of us worship our own ideas -- we think that our opinions are superior and others are wrong. It's hard not to worship our stuff -- have you ever felt personally injured when you watch one of your favorite possessions break? What do you worship?

Take a moment for self-examination and really dig deep. Confess your failings to God. We all fall short -- it's part of being human. Yet we seek to repent -- to really turn from our ways to try to put God first in our lives...

PRAYER:

Dear Lord, help us to worship you, and only you, with all of our strength, all of our soul, all of our mind, and all of our might. Help us to love our neighbors as we love ourselves. Help us to put you first and foremost in our lives. In Jesus name we pray, AMEN.