Matthew 4:9 English Standard Version (ESV) And he said to him, “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.”

This is blatant manipulation. Those who would control us are more subtle than this. Remember that the serpent in the garden was the most subtle of all God’s creations. While I am not saying all that would control us are Satan, the end result is the same, being drawn away from God.

Why does anyone want to use us? On the grand scale we can easily see that money is a common denominator. Common denominators allow us to see how users are trying to influence our lives.

Lean one way and it is easy to be pushed in that direction. Advertising is blatant in their approach towards selling their product because they know how many people are leaning towards their product. An alcoholic does not need advertising. Those who deny the pull towards addiction will not see the harm in those ads. They will see beauty and no danger. It is subtle.

Speaking of beauty, how many magazines have ugly people on the cover? Characters in computer role playing games are customized by the user to fit the desire of the user to appear as they fantasize themselves? That is vanity run amok. Anything that allows us to see ourselves as something we are not, is denying God’s plan for us.

In the first two temptations Satan questions Jesus’ identity. “If you are the Son of God…” None of our earthly temptations are so blatant. If they were, we would see that. There are other ways to question our identity in Christ without being blatant about it.

The first is to question our faith.

The second is to question our salvation.