The Lenten journey is the church's way of remembering both the 40 days Jesus spent in the wilderness being tempted by the devil, and of the 40 years the Israelites spent wandering in the desert - the former redeeming the latter by Jesus showing that it is possible to resist the temptations which caused God's people to go astray right from the very start. ' The lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh and the pride of life' ( 1 John 2 :16)
But what Im wondering is why God allowed temptation to come into the world in the first place. I mean, if there had been no serpent in the garden, no whispering voice, no nice juicy fruit on the tree of life....... OR , if there had been all of those things but no desire in Eve and in Adam for them. Oh how different the history of the world would have been. But the ability to be tempted was clearly in us from the start - and it sure as anything is still in us now. From that extra chocolate biscuit to not paying taxes, from extra marital affairs to internet porn and parking on a double yellow line the temptations are fired at us thick and fast from every angle and we are so susceptible to them.
The question seems to have exercised the early church too because Paul addresses it at some length in Romans
21 So I find this law at work: Although I want to do good, evil is right there with me. 22 For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; 23 but I see another law at work in me, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within me. 24 What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death? 25 Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord!
So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God’s law, but in my sinful nature[d]a slave to the law of sin. ( Romans 7)
'waging war against the law of my mind' - that is how it feels to be tempted. Its a battle. Two voices in your head pulling you in opposing directions.. Do the right thing, which might be costly or inconvenient or just not much fun. Or do the wrong thing which feels good and is profitable in the short term and confers immediate benefits. Its tough. Even Jesus found it tough! And the Bible tells us that He was tempted in EVERY way as we are. Think about that for a second..... Jesus was tempted to steal and murder and fornicate and lie and cheat and over eat and be lazy and gossip and envy and hate. But He battled in his mind and won. He battled with the devil in the desert and won. He did not sin. Not once. He won the battle EVERY SINGLE TIME! Woah!
And how did He do it? By being fully reliant on the Word and the Spirit of God. By reminding the devil that God is sovereign and by trusting completely in His plan.
This Lent many of us will have given up certain things. Alcohol, chocolate. crisps, swearing , smoking, robbing banks :) Its only after you give it up that it becomes a huge temptation !! Already on day two some of us will be finding it hard. We will be struggling not to succumb to the temptation just to bend the rules a little bit. But that's part of what Lent is about . An opportunity to re-focus and to follow Jesus into the wilderness for 40 days. To watch and learn from Him as He resists the devil and sees him flee.
Lord Jesus
Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the power and the glory forever and ever. Amen
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