5 And the devil took him up and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time, 6 and said to him, “To you I will give all this authority and their glory, for it has been delivered to me, and I give it to whom I will. 7 If you, then, will worship me, it will all be yours.” 8 And Jesus answered him, “It is written,
“‘You shall worship the Lord your God,
and him only shall you serve.’”
“‘You shall worship the Lord your God,
and him only shall you serve.’”
Temptation often comes quickly and with overwhelming power. Luke notes that Satan showed Jesus this full panorama of power - all the kingdoms of the world - in a moment of time. He then promises all this authority and their glory - there is a rush of imagination - you could rule over it all. Everyone wants to be in charge of something. We so easily feel helpless in this world, we all wish we could be in charge of something. It is said that the church at times has some of the worst leaders, because there is nowhere else anyone will let them lead, and they want to be the boss somewhere. The thing is, everything already did belong to Jesus, and all authority will be His, in God's timing; there usually is some truth intertwined with any temptation. It's just twisted around some lie. The lie here is that Satan could give the kingdoms and their authority to whoever he wanted, as if it were his to give. Jesus is no dummy or fool; He spots the lie, and sees the core of the matter. Satan wants worship, and that is exactly what we give him whenever we fall for his temptations. What is your temptation to power? Who or what is it you want to control? Whom do you think and act like has that control whom you try to please and appease? Choose today whom you will serve and worship: not Satan, not some worldly power, not your own desire for control, but God alone.
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