A man who chooses the Jesus script is…
A man who is willing to bring the fight to his two primary enemies every day—his appetites and insecurities.
Every day, we engage in a battle. It’s a fight that requires us to be alert and sober-minded. It requires us to take our stand against our enemy’s schemes—sometimes covert and other times overt. Our enemy, Satan, specializes in lies and half-truths. He twists the truth to make it sound truthful. And more often than not, he preys on two things—our appetites and insecurities.
Like us, Jesus faced temptation. Read Matthew’s account of some of the ways Jesus was tempted.
Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. The tempter came to him and said, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.”
Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”
Then the devil took him to the holy city and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down. For it is written:
“‘He will command his angels concerning you,
and they will lift you up in their hands,
so that you will not strike your foot against a stone’”Jesus answered him, “It is also written: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’”
Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. “All this I will give you,” he said, “if you will bow down and worship me.”
Jesus said to him, “Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.’”
Then the devil left him, and angels came and attended him.
—Matthew 4:1–11
After Jesus had been fasting, Satan took advantage of his natural appetite by telling him to turn the stones into bread. Satan recognized that Jesus could perform the miracle, but Jesus resisted. If God didn’t tell him to do it, Jesus wasn’t going to turn stones into bread. Next, Satan tried to convince Jesus to abuse his power for selfish gain. Again, Jesus spoke God’s law back to him when he said, “Do not put the Lord your God to the test.” For his last temptation, Satan gave Jesus a shortcut to building his kingdom. All he asked in return was for Jesus to worship him. Jesus said, “Get out of here, Satan!” and he quoted the commandment to worship God and serve him only.
The apostle John categorized temptations as the lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes, and pride of life. Your temptation may be food, money, sex, or the accumulation of possessions. Perhaps you’re enticed by power, prestige, or position. Or maybe the reality is that you’re grasping to control your own life, failing to see that someone else is really seeking to control you.
Whatever temptation you face, it’s possible to withstand it—but not in your strength. A power is available to us when we’re tempted. The same Spirit that raised Jesus from the grave lives within those who have placed our trust in Jesus. It’s God’s Spirit that equips us for the battle and strengthens us in the face of temptation to tell the deceiver, Satan, to “Get out of here!” And his Spirit equips us to face the fight against our appetites and insecurities every day, resist temptation, and stand firm.
