Following after Jesus #26

Today we come to the last listed temptation of Jesus by Satan in Matthew 4:

 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.

When it comes to facing temptation, we can often feel like helpless victims. To be sure we do not have the infinite power of Christ by ourselves, but we are not as helpless as we would like to proclaim.  First of all, we have the same truth available to us. The most basic commandment of all is "You shall worship the Lord your God and Him only shall you serve." Violating that commandment was part of this temptation - Satan wanted worship as part of this package deal.  Whenever we face temptation, we need to seriously ask: Is any part of this proposal contrary to God's word?? - even the slightest detail.  Secondly, we are not as alone as we might think or proclaim.  The picture we get is that those angels were there this whole time, and the Holy Spirit was already upon Jesus at His baptism. For those of us who have trusted in Christ as Savior, we have Him, and His indwelling Spirit, to guide, convict, convince and empower us. We are not left alone.  Finally, we have been forewarned that Satan is waiting for opportunity to attack us. Ever since the garden, Cain and Abel, and throughout scripture we are warned that Satan is crouching in the background, ready to pounce like a roaring lion or slither in like a sneaky snake. Let's not act like helpless victims.