DAY 9 WITH THE SON

I'm taking the 40 days leading up the Christmas to focus on the life of Jesus and do a mini-reflection. I'm following along with Liza on her special blog called 40 Days with the Son, based on the Max Lucado book 3:16.

Here is how to join us in reflection of the spirit of this upcoming holiday season.

We're progressed to the part of the Gospels that tells about Jesus first few events in his official ministry as God prepared him to be the Savior.

Titled Satan Stalked Him: He faced all kinds of the same temptations we do."- Hebrews 4:15 (NLT)

First thought about this passage- the translation of Jesus 40 days in the wilderness in Luke talks about Jesus being tempted, not merely the devil trying to tempt Jesus. The phrasing of this passage reminds me that the temptation wasn’t just something that the devil threw out there at Jesus that left him un-phased or uninterested. In the past, I had just supposed that Jesus turned a blind eye and wasn’t the least bit impressed with what the devil was trying to tempt him with in the desert.

Luke’s translation of the event indicates that Jesus was tempted and felt the pains of doubt and uncertainty as he faced these choices offered to him by the devil. By similar analogy, I’m not even tempted if somebody offers me a piece of pie- because, well I don’t care for pie. Now if somebody is offering me chocolate cake or some cookies, I’m usually tempted beyond my willpower to indulge in dessert. It makes me feel better that Jesus was in the desert and experienced the desires for temptations like we humans experience the desires for all our temptations. However, we have a Savior that was perfect and never gave into his temptations.

GOOD NEWS OF THE DAY: We are having an amazing time in Alabama- taking millions of photos, enjoying the great outdoors and spending time with some wonderful friends.