Jesus taught us so
March 2, 2009 (Monday)
After Jesus was baptized, he went straight into the wilderness for a 40 day fast, after which he was tempted by the devil. The three temptations described in Matthew 4:1-11 had special meaning for Jesus and His mission, but the example of Jesus in overcoming those temptations guides us in our temptations.
The first of those temptations was to take action on His own to supply His personal needs. He was tempted to turn stones into bread. He could easily have done that, but he chose to trust His Father instead, answering the Devil with a Scripture, “It is written,” said Jesus “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.” In other words, the “spiritual” trumps the “material” and we all need to trust our Heavenly Father no matter what the future seems to hold.
The lesson for us mere mortals is simple: “Don’t be afraid. God will take care of you.”
The news for weeks now has been bad as far as the economy goes. Each day bad news is followed by more of the same. It’s enough to make folks be afraid for their future.
Jesus, however, taught us to keep “things” in their place in our order of priorities, and material stuff, even money, is not number one. Jesus put it this way, “Seek first the Kingdom of God and His Righteousness and all these ‘things’ shall be yours” (Matthew 6:33). He said His people “march to a different drummer” and are not to live by the world’s standards. “Be not dismayed whate’er betide, God will take care of you.” So goes the song. So goes our lives.