Temptations

”Watch ye and pray, lest ye enter into temptation…” (Mark 14: 38). Temptation is one of the means by which Christians prove their faithfulness to God. We are being tempted at every moment of our lives. God often allow us to be tempted to know if we really love Him or not. Even Jesus was tempted while he was here on earth.
When Jesus fasted for forty days, he was tempted by the devil. (Luke 4: 2). The devil knew that Jesus was hungry, so he tempted him to turn stones into bread so that He could eat. But Jesus told him emphatically that ”man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God”. That is one of the temptations Christian face. When we fast, there is an urge to eat. Satan knows that if we do, we fast in vain and we will not be able to experience the power of God in its fulness.
The devil also tempted Jesus with worldly pleasures (Luke 4: 5-7). Since Jesus was not of this world, he could not be influenced by its lusts. This is one of Satan’s best tools with which he tempts Christians. Those whose faith have not been established in God’s word fall and easily give way. If we bear in mind the Word of God which says that we should ”love not the world nor things of it”, we would be strengthened in our christian pilgrimage as our focus would be only to fulfill God’s mandate and to make heaven.
Satan’s last temptation was that Jesus should jump down from the pinnacle of the temple. He urged Jesus to make a show-off of his power. There are times when people, circumstances, things urge us to make a show-off of our level of intelligence. That is when pride begins to set in. The Bible continually warns us that ”whosoever exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted”. (Luke 14: 11).
Satan’s temptation to Jesus were meant to truncate His purpose on the earth. We should note that Satan can quote the Scriptures and twist its teachings. Those who intend to stand in this time of danger must understand for themselves what the Bible teaches. One way we can stand in times of temptation is to read the Bible and pray always. We should invite the Holy Spirit to make us realise the worth of the things we understand easily and to prevent us from twisting difficult truths. Temptations often seem irresistible because the tempted one cannot quickly remember God’s promises and oppose Satan with the Scripture weapons. The Holy Spirit ”will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things I said to you” John 14: 26. But we must first saturate our mind with the teachings of Christ for the Spirit of God to bring them to our remembrance in times of danger.