Easy way out?

DDG, Unit 20, Session 2, Day 2- Luke 4:5-8

     Do you ever feel like God just isn’t working quickly enough? He made promises, and it just seems to take forever. We wonder if He is going to come through at all. Other times, we are looking at a situation where our desired outcome is on the other side of some unpleasantness that we wish could be avoided, if only God would intervene.

            Jesus had a short life and a horrible death before Him at this point in Luke’s gospel. He knew He was the rightful ruler of all the earth. Jesus does not challenge Satan’s claim of authority of the earth’s kingdoms, nor does He acknowledge it. He does state emphatically that only God is to be worshiped. Jesus would not be sidetracked from His mission to take a short-cut to what was to be His, on the other side of the cross. You think you have to go through tough times? I doubt there’s a crucifixion in your future. Or, a promise of all the kingdoms of the earth, either, I suppose.

            One thing you may be sure of, though. Someone is going to offer an easy way out. Bored? There are all kinds of things to excite and titillate. Unhappy? There are so many tempting ways to placate that. Not to find happiness, but to “deal” with unhappiness. Gossip? Fantasy? Chemicals? Some venture “on the side”? There are all kinds of shortcuts to receiving the things God promises us in the world today. Creative people who do not know or care for the God of the universe are busily trying to find those things that truly satisfy; which only God can provide. They make them available to you for small sums of money (or large) or for bits of information they can sell to others.

            Satan knows their power and allure. He also knows when you are at your weakest and most vulnerable. Cling to the God who saves and Who provides the power to overcome the evil one. Know His word so you have the resources at hand in the moment of need. He will make a way out from under the temptation. (1 Corinthians 10:13) Whatever Satan is trying to give you the easy path to, God’s way will give you a better outcome, even if the path is uncomfortable.

What things are you tempted to pursue with a shortcut?

Comments

Post a Comment

Thank you for submitting your comment. Comments are freely permitted to disagree with what I write, but it is my blog and I reserve the right to decide what is, and is not, appropriate. Foul language and spam will not be posted.

Popular posts from this blog

Welcome

“Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves; so be shrewd as serpents and innocent as doves."                           Matthew 10:16 (NASB)     Pastors generally are a decent group of people who have difficult jobs working with people who are hurting and needy. It breeds a certain special kind of compassion. It also sometimes leaves them open to the occasional scam artist. We generally have the tools to keep ourselves out of trouble with people coming in person (thank you church boards), but it seems like once or twice each year, we get an email from some pastor or another on our district warning us that their email has been hacked and not to respond to requests for financial assistance. Most pastors are not noted for their tech savvy.     As a pastor and an IT professional, I always cringe a little when those emails come. Many of our pastors have the "innocent as doves" part down (med...
Read more

The Man Who is God (Matthew 9:1-8) 21 February 2023

  On any given day, you will find people on social media who will proudly proclaim “Jesus never said he was God.” You will hear several different kinds of people with different motivations who make the claim. There is the ill-informed atheist who shouldn’t really care what Jesus did or didn’t claim, since he doesn’t believe in God in the first place. The exvangelical who has “deconstructed” his faith to the point that it is difficult to put back together again. Then there is the Muslim who believes Jesus was a prophet and, as such, could not claim deity. While it is true that Jesus didn’t go around proclaiming Himself to be God with skin on, there are numerous places where he made claims where he equated himself with God, whom he often identified as “Father.” Today’s passage includes one of these. Explanation In this short passage, Jesus arrives in Nazareth (his own city) and encounters a paralytic who had been brought to him. He is moved by the faith of this group, but says ...
Read more

Miracle Baby – Jesus the Christ

 Luke 1:34-38 (ESV) And Mary said to the angel, “How will this be, since I am a virgin?” And the angel answered her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy—the Son of God. And behold, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son, and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren. For nothing will be impossible with God.” And Mary said, “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her.   Explanation It is easy to become too familiar with certain Bible stories, and the stories around Jesus’ conception and birth certainly rank in that category. In this passage, Mary isn’t just finding she’s going to have a baby under the most unusual circumstances. God is going to fulfill His greatest prophecy. Israel’s messiah is to be born. She, of course, is confused about the mechanics of the promise, as...
Read more