Matthew 4

Matthew 4.

‘Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the Devil.....Jesus was hungry.’

Temptation is going to happen to us all, we can be sure of that. The important thing is how we deal with what is placed in front of us. Matthew 4 gives us a wonderful picture of the humanity of Jesus in his hunger, yet allows us to notice His divine nature shining through with His oneness and obedience to the Spirit. Jesus was God, in human form, yet was in total submission to the will of the Holy Spirit which shows the sometimes difficult to comprehend Trinity working like clockwork.

Back to the matter at hand – If Jesus in His divine nature can be tempted by the devil how much should I be on guard from the powers that want to wreck havoc with my obedience to God. On paper being obedient before God doesn’t look unobtainable, be true to God and his commands through diligence to His word in the bible and keep a healthy prayer life. However this is easier said then done. Its not rocket science, the problem often lies with an inbuilt lack of commitment on our part.

Action for the day - pray more! Rely on my conversations with God. If I can attain this I know my quality of life both spiritually and as I engage with the culture that surrounds me will improve.

On a slight tangent...read verse 21, how do you think James and Johns dad would have reacted. I would have been raging, ‘Here da, we’re away, haul the net in yourself!’ this little incident does however create space for thinking about priorities in mission and building the kingdom, it's most likely that I would have stayed in the boat and finished the job at hand at least waiting till we hit the shore, but Jesus didn’t seem to want that of his new found disciples, he required immediate action.