THINK TOGETHER
What comes to mind when you think about the Devil?
READ TOGETHER
Yesterday we looked at the story of Jesus' baptism. On that day God declared how much he loves Jesus the Son. After that we might think that the next story would be Jesus doing something very spectacular or amazing, maybe like a big miracle. But the next story takes us into the desert where Jesus will be tempted by the Devil for 40 straight days. Yikes! Listen to the story from Matthew's gospel:
Matthew 1:1-10. Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil. 2And after fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. 3 And the tempter came and said to him, "If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread." 4But he answered, "It is written, "'Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.'" 5Then the devil...set him on the pinnacle of the temple 6and said to him, "If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written, "'He will command his angels concerning you,' and "'On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.'" 7Jesus said to him, "Again it is written, 'You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.'" 8Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. 9And he said to him, "All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me." 10Then Jesus said to him, "Be gone, Satan! For it is written, "'You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve.'"
Satan really wanted Jesus to sin in the desert so that he could never be our savior. He wanted Jesus to stop trusting God. How does Satan tempt you to stop trusting God? How does he make you doubt what God says? The good news is that Jesus did not sin. He never stopped trusting God did he? That means that Jesus could die for our sins in our place. And that means that even when we are tempted and fail, even when we sin, we can be forgiven by God because Jesus never fails.
Because of Jesus we know that even if we sin we are forgiven by God.
With Jesus we can trust God when Satan tries to tempt us and not sin.
DO SOMETHING TOGETHER
Turn stones into "bread." Paint rocks with a word, phrase or verse that can help you escape temptation. Here's some suggestions: Not Today Satan - Go Away Devil - I Trust Jesus - Jesus Never Sinned - Run Away From Sin.
PRAY TOGETHER
Jesus, you were perfect so that I don't have to be. Help me to trust that you are better than any sin, just like you trusted God when you were tempted to sin. Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment