Good morning. It is a beautiful day that the Lord has made, we will rejoice and be glad in it, we will worship Him in Spirit and in truth.
In Matthew 4:1-11 we read of Jesus’ temptations in the wilderness. Jesus, after inaugurating His earthly ministry by being baptized by John, was led by the Spirit into the wilderness for a prolonged period of fasting and prayer. We are told in Matthew 4:1 that He was specifically in that place, suffering this kind of hardship, for one reason: to be tempted by the devil. His temptations are not incidental, nor are they the result of the enemy seeing Him as weak, vulnerable, and therefore open to an opportunity. No, Jesus was in the wilderness, praying and fasting, waiting for Satan’s temptations.
Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. And after fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. And the tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.” But he answered, “It is written, “‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”
Then the devil took him to the holy city and set him on the pinnacle of the temple and 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.’” Jesus said to him, “Again it is written, ‘You shall 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 glory. And he said to him, “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.” Then Jesus said to him, “Be gone, Satan! For it is written, “‘You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve.’” Then the devil left him, and behold, angels came and were ministering to him.
While this entire episode is important, and therefore given to us in scripture, I am especially intrigued by the last temptation: “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.” Can you imagine such a thing? Would it even be possible for the Son of God to do such a thing, to fall before Satan and worship him? I don’t know if it was possible, but it is clear what Jesus thought of it “Be gone, Satan! For it is written, “‘You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve.’”
To be created of flesh and blood is to know that we have a need for worship. Not a need to be worshipped, but an inner voice, perhaps an instinct, that tells us that we are born to worship. We are created for worship, but that worship is to be given and directed only to our God. “Our God “is a jealous God” Exodus 34:14 and will not tolerate His children’s attention and love to be given to any but Himself. We have an inner need to worship, but it is a focused and fixated need. We are born to worship the Lord and Him alone!
While in Athens, Paul had the opportunity to speak at the Acropolis. He begins his message by commending their instinct, their insatiable drive, for worship. He says that he has noticed that they even have an altar for worship to “the unknown god.” Paul tells them that they are in luck. Their days of wondering if their worship is sufficient and complete are over. He tells them that there is but one God worthy of worship, and he tells them that He who they consider to be unknown is anything but unknowable. He tells them that God desires to be known, to be loved, and to care for them. Paul challenges them to focus their worship, to bring their worship where it belongs, to worship the one and only God of the universe.
We are born to worship. Our enemy tries constantly to tempt us, to confuse us, and to distract us, so that our worship will be misplaced. He even tried to convince Jesus to worship him instead of His Father God. There are many avenues today that our enemy has placed in front of us to tempt us into false worship. Many pastimes, philosophies, people, and faiths compete to supplant our worship of our heavenly Father.
Our answer today is the same as was Jesus’ answer so long ago: “You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve.”
Worship well He whom we are created to worship. Worshiping our heavenly Father satisfy a longing of our soul and it is a need that must be met.
Vern