Temptation

According to Wikipedia, temptation is the desire to perform an action that one may enjoy immediately or in the short term but will probably later regret for various reasons: legal, social, psychological (including feeling guilt), health-related, economic, etc. In the context of religion, temptation is the inclination to sin. Temptation also describes the coaxing or inducing a person into committing such an act, by manipulation or otherwise of curiosity, desire or fear of loss.

The definition of temptation is an act that looks appealing to an individual. Greek word for tempted can also mean tested.

The Bible says, “Each one is tempted by his own evil desire” and teaches that we are all tempted to sin.

Even Jesus Christ was tempted. Soon after his baptism, Jesus had fasted for forty days and nights in the wilderness of Judean desert. We need to note that Jesus was extremely hungry after fasting for so long. During this time, the devil (Satan) appeared to Jesus and tempted Him thrice.

According to Wiki Answers, here’s a description of the three attempts by Satan to tempt Jesus along with what Jesus said in reply. In his first attempt, Satan said: “If you are a son of God, tell these stones to become loaves of bread” to which Jesus replied: “It is written, ‘Man must live not on bread alone, but on every utterance coming forth through Jehovah’s mouth”.

Then the devil took Him along into the holy city, and he stationed him upon the battlement of the temple and said to Jesus: “If you are a son of God, hurl yourself down; for it is written, ‘He will give his angels a charge concerning you, and they will carry you on their hands, that you may at no time strike your foot against a stone”. In reply Jesus said to him: “Again it is written, ‘you must not put Jehovah your God to the test’.”

Again the devil took Jesus along to an unusually high mountain, and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory, and he said to Him: “All these things I will give you if you fall down and do an act of worship to me”. Then Jesus said to him: “Go away, Satan! For it is written, ‘It is Jehovah your God you must worship, and it is to Him alone you must render sacred service’.”

Jesus having refused each temptation, the devil departed and the angels came and brought nourishment to Jesus. It’s extremely crucial to understand here that the moment devil departs; good angels are sent to us to take care of us. These are not the only three times Satan tried to tempt Jesus – it seems Jesus was tempted by the devil throughout His ministry but because Jesus had the power to fend Himself, He could face the devil each time. We need to gather that kind of holy power around us and for this we need to ask Jesus to send us the Holy Spirit which keeps guiding us all the time.

Satan is evil personified. In Hebrew, Satan signifies an adversary or an accuser. There are three areas where Satan seems to try hardest to deceive. He doesn’t want mankind to understand that God is good, that God is the Creator, and that God has completed a plan for the redemption of mankind. The Bible says that Satan is a beautiful and powerful fallen angel, who would like to do nothing more than take away the joy of Christians. Satan does not want us to turn away from our sins and turn to God.

In the beginning, Satan had tempted Eve so that by her he might tempt Adam. It is Satan’s policy to send temptations by hands we do not suspect, and by those that have most influence upon us. When God put Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, they were both innocent and good.

We have much to learn from Satan’s temptations of Jesus and even Eve. Though like Eve we are tempted by Satan, we have to be like Jesus – we have to pray at all times so that we don’t fall in to these temptations. These three temptations have been represented in the Bible so that we learn about the true meaning of life. Jesus came into the world to live life at its best. However, Satan tried to lure Him and attempted to get Jesus to sin. Though the devil tried to entice Jesus, He was resilient. Instead of giving in to the temptations, Jesus in fact humbled himself, and became obedient. So may be sometimes when we are tempted in life we have be like Jesus and humble ourselves and become obedient to God. Each time Jesus was tempted, He responded by quoting from the law. This shows that we need to know our scriptures well to avoid temptation of any kind.

In order to overcome temptations, the Bible reveals that we must surrender our lives to God and live as new creations. Our efforts to resist temptation will always be rewarded if we respond in keeping with the teachings of the scriptures. In the bargain, we ourselves will feel happier with the renewed life that we create and become closer to God. For this we need to develop self-control – control of one’s emotions, desires, and actions by one’s own will.

Jesus resisted temptation and so can we. If we resist the devil, he will flee from us. So the million dollar question here is what should we do when temptation comes to us? According to Blue Letter Bible, there are times that we do not feel that we can resist. However the Scripture says that we will not be placed in a situation that we are not able to handle. “No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it (1 Corinthians 10:13).

The Bible says: “Because He Himself suffered when He was tempted, He is able to help those who are being tempted”. (Heb 2:18) So, let’s not worry at all. It’s a promise from God Himself that we will not be tempted beyond what we can bear. God also promises that there will always be a way of escape. Alleluia…!!!