When I think of sin and being tempted to sin I usually think of what some call the Seven Deadly Sins: Lust, Gluttony, Greed, Sloth, Wrath, Envy, and Pride. I mean, if I can just resist the world, my flesh and the devil in these areas then I am doing well and certainly better than most. Unfortunately, most of us Christians define success in our walk with Jesus by what we can avoid doing instead of what we have been called to do – namely, to love God and love others (Matthew 22:36-40).
All that to say that most would agree that temptation is what it is, namely our fight against whatever force is enticing us to sin.
In the gospel’s of Matthew, Mark & Luke we are told that Jesus spent 40 days in the desert being tempted by Satan. I have read through these passages many times but recently something hit me in regards to what Satan tempted Jesus with in the desert.
Satan did not approach Jesus with a naked lady, a buffet of food, a bottle of Crown Royal, or a shady business opportunity. Think about it… the very things that we are most easily tempted by and fall for were not what Satan used to tempt Jesus.
Satan tempted Jesus with three opportunities:
1. To provide for himself (Luke 4:3)
2. To make a name for himself (Luke 4:5-7)
3. To control God {misuse a promise of God} (Luke 4:9-11)
What this screamed to me recently was this… I can resist all the temptation this world has to throw at me and be able to say with integrity that I’m not controlled by lust, gluttony, greed, pride and the other “deadly sins”, but still be defeated daily by the very things that Jesus was tempted with by Satan.
Jesus faced (and resisted) real temptation. I am beginning to believe that what we call temptations would be more appropriately called distractions. If we stay distracted by the “deadly sins”, the world, our own flesh and the devil never have to try real hard to keep us in a state of defeat.
Here is the scary thing to me… in most Christian circles we are applauded if we have the “deadly sins” at bay while at the very same time we are exercising all our ability and resources to provide for ourselves, make a name for ourselves and control God.
