Two-minute read.
“After fasting forty days and forty nights, he [Jesus] was hungry.”
Matthew 4:2
Introducing Jesus.
After Jesus declares His status as the Son of God, He enters a period of fasting before beginning His ministry. Paralleling the Israelite’s 40 years of wandering, Jesus spends 40 days fasting in the desert, enduring the enemy’s temptations. During this time, Christ undergoes three tests of His relationship with God. Not taking advantage of His connection to our heavenly Father, Jesus resists the temptations by relying on Scripture from Deuteronomy 6-8. In other words, fully human, Jesus accepted His God-given task without pulling rank, setting an example for us to follow.
Where the Israelites failed, Jesus succeeded. The lessons the Israelites should have learned but didn’t, Christ experiences and conquers through obedience, thus creating the basis for His ministry and creating a “new Israel.” God doesn’t tempt us, but He does test us. We can’t learn the next lesson until we learn the current one.
In February of 2023, I had my first blood clot. After vascular surgeons removed it, I changed my lifestyle for a few months and eventually went back to my old ways. Exactly a year to the day later, I had a second blood clot. When my heart wanted to know why, my prayers focused on what. What didn’t I learn the first time God wanted me to learn? As I lay in the dark hospital room alone in my bed, I cried out to the Lord.
“What do you think you’ve learned from the last five days?” the hospital chaplain asked me on his second visit to my room.
“Trust,” I responded after thinking for a moment. One word came to mind as I reflected on my desperate prayers, asking for God’s salvation and more time on Earth. God wanted me to trust Him, no matter what. The Lord reminded me that every breath I take comes from Him; the next one not guaranteed. Hopefully, I won’t endure that test again, and God will give me decades more to live, the lesson learned one I won’t quickly forget.
God will test us in life’s journey, as He did Jesus. Following Christ teaches us how to pass the test and move forward. We can succeed through obedience, trusting God’s word, and becoming sensitive to the Holy Spirit within us, like Jesus. Our Savior started His ministry in the desert, enduring the enemy’s temptations and setting an example we can follow. Meet Jesus, our Champion, who shows us the way to victory.
Journal Questions:
- How can I apply today’s devotion to my life?
- What lesson does God want you to learn?
- Have God tested you more than once in the same area?
Prayer:
Lord, thank You for Your saving grace and long-suffering patience with our foolishness. As we move through our day, help us learn the lessons You have for us. Let us become more like Christ as we do what He did. Plant scripture in our hearts to rebuke the enemy’s attacks and let us find victory in Jesus. IJNIP. Amen
