Matthew 4:1-3 English Standard Version (ESV)
The Temptation of Jesus
1 Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. 2 And after fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. 3 And the tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.”
When I left you yesterday I asked, does knowing what God might ask of you hinder growth?
In some ways it is not fair to compare our lives with Jesus. He was sinless at the time of His baptism. We cannot say the same but there is one good comparison and that is Satan’s method.
Jesus was hungry. This is a common human phenomenon. We all get hungry but for what? Fleshly appetites are not restricted to just food. Because we have sinned before accepting Jesus as Lord and Savior, we have tasted of sin and found pleasure. Satan will come at us when we are at our weakest. No one attacks a strong fortress.
The second sign of Satan’s attack is the challenge of identity. “So you think you are a child of God.” The accusation is enough to make us think about this moment of weakness and cast doubt. Satan will tell you that being tempted is a sin. It is not.
2 Corinthians 10:5 English Standard Version (ESV) We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ,
These are the actions of a mature Christian and babes in Christ are not there yet. Until we mature to this point Satan will continue to attack us with the accusations of failure. Babes in Christ cannot fail Christ. He has not asked anything of them but to feed and grow.
Grow we do and then comes the asking.