Matthew 4:1-3
Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. 2 And 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.”
It is interesting that Jesus had to spend 40 days in the wilderness before the devil even started his verbal temptation. Sometimes we think of temptation as being only the isolated idea of sin, as when the devil suggests that Jesus turn the stones into bread (verse 3). But the devil is crafty, and tries to weaken us ahead of time so that we will be more vulnerable to the temptation. In AA meetings they use the acronym of HALT for Hungry, Angry, Lonely, Tired; when we are experiencing any of these feelings then we are more vulnerable to temptation. Jesus in this case was certainly feeling hungry, lonely and tired after 40 days with no food in the wilderness, which would have made it more difficult to respond wisely to the devil. This is why it helps to be aware of what is going on inside ourselves, so we can better prepare how to protect ourselves.
Heavenly Father, please help me to be aware of my weaknesses, and to turn to you for help.
Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. 2 And 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.”
It is interesting that Jesus had to spend 40 days in the wilderness before the devil even started his verbal temptation. Sometimes we think of temptation as being only the isolated idea of sin, as when the devil suggests that Jesus turn the stones into bread (verse 3). But the devil is crafty, and tries to weaken us ahead of time so that we will be more vulnerable to the temptation. In AA meetings they use the acronym of HALT for Hungry, Angry, Lonely, Tired; when we are experiencing any of these feelings then we are more vulnerable to temptation. Jesus in this case was certainly feeling hungry, lonely and tired after 40 days with no food in the wilderness, which would have made it more difficult to respond wisely to the devil. This is why it helps to be aware of what is going on inside ourselves, so we can better prepare how to protect ourselves.
Heavenly Father, please help me to be aware of my weaknesses, and to turn to you for help.