One of the challenges I face as I write these popcorn devotions is deciding what to focus on! Sure, some mornings my heart and thoughts stop on something very specific, but most days there is just so much. I love the exercise of praying through those passages and asking God to focus my attention on one takeaway to process and share.
This morning, I read Matthew 4 and stayed with verses 1–11. In verses 8–11, we read:
Next, the devil took him to the peak of a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. “I will give it all to you,” he said, “if you will kneel and worship me.”
“Get out of here, Satan,” Jesus told him. “For the Scriptures say,
‘You must worship the Lord your God
and serve only him.’ ”Then the devil went away, and angels came and took care of Jesus.
Satan takes Jesus to a very high mountain, shows him the kingdoms and says, “I will give it all to you if you will kneel and worship me.”
Satan was offering Jesus something the Father already intended to give him. So the temptation wasn’t simply about what Jesus would receive. It was mostly about how he would receive it.
Satan was offering a shortcut.
We like shortcuts! We like them because they get us where we want to go, or get us what we want, without requiring as much effort or time. We also like to chart our own path. One that, at least on the surface, guarantees us what we think we need.
And this isn’t the first time we see something like this in Scripture.
God promised Abraham a child, but, tired of waiting, Abraham and Sarah eventually took matters into their own hands with Hagar. Their decision created chaos instead of peace.
God had already told Rebekah that the older son would serve the younger, yet Jacob and Rebekah resorted to deception to secure the blessing. Their decision caused conflict.
Israel demanded a king like all the other nations because they believed this would fast-track their position as a nation. Their desire for a king wasn’t necessarily the problem. God had already anticipated that Israel would one day have one. The problem was that they wanted human leadership to give them the security and strength they were supposed to trust God to provide.
There is a recurring temptation to take into our own hands what God has already promised to give or do.
Jesus arrives as the true heir to the throne. All will be his, but Satan offers him an easier way to get there. Skip the cross that is to come. Bow to me instead, and there will be no need for a cross.
Jesus says no.
Just before this, Satan tempts Jesus in a couple different ways as well. “Jesus, if you are the Son of God, use your power for your benefit. Turn these stones into bread.” And then, “Jesus, if you are the Son of God, challenge him and force his hand.”
He refuses to abandon trust and obedience just because someone offers him what seems like an easier way to get where he is going. A way without suffering. A way without perseverance or obedience.
A while back, when the Lotto Max jackpot was sitting at $70 million, I decided to buy a ticket. I vaguely remember my thought process, and even my prayer, being something along these lines:
God, you know I want to follow you and do your will. If you could let me win this jackpot, it would make all of that much easier. Imagine what I could do without having to worry about working a regular job. Imagine all the people I could help. I could get right to doing what you want me to do without wasting time.
Sounds pretty spiritual, doesn’t it? And maybe some of it genuinely was. I really did want to follow God, and helping people certainly wasn’t a bad desire. But behind that prayer was fear. Fear that I would have to wait. Fear that God didn’t necessarily know what I needed. If only I could secure this money, the way forward would be clear and simple. Right?
$70 million sure seemed like it would make everything easier.
Sometimes what we want isn’t necessarily wrong. We may even genuinely believe we’re pursuing something God wants for us. The temptation can be in how we go about getting there. The shortcut looks reasonable. It might even look like an answer to prayer.
But what if it was the devil whispering in my ear, “Buy that ticket, Georges. Imagine what you could do if you won. You don’t need to wait for God to lead the way or worry about how you will care for your family. That much money would take care of it for you. Besides, if God loves you, why wouldn’t he want you to have that? Test him! Didn’t he say that if you asked anything in his name he would give it to you?”
Near the end of Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus is hanging on a cross when he hears something that sounds familiar:
He saved others, but he can’t save himself! … If he really is God, let him come down from the cross now, and we will believe in him.
It sounds a lot like the wilderness temptation all over again. If you really are the Son of God, prove it. Save yourself. Come down.
In Matthew 4, Jesus refuses the shortcut that would give him the kingdom without the cross. In Matthew 27, when he is actually hanging on that cross, he refuses the shortcut again.
Jesus trusted the Father enough not only to believe what the Father had promised, but also to remain obedient in how he got there.
… Because of the joy awaiting him, he endured the cross, disregarding its shame. Now he is seated in the place of honour beside God’s throne.
Hebrews 12:2
Maybe that’s one of the more subtle forms temptation takes in our lives. It doesn’t always try to convince us to abandon what is good or even what God wants. Sometimes it simply convinces us that there must be an easier, faster or more convenient way to get there. One that doesn’t require as much trust, waiting or obedience. Just take the matter into your own hands. Give God a break.
And if we’re not careful, we can make the shortcut sound pretty spiritual and end up with chaos instead.
Jesus refused to abandon trust and obedience just because there was what seemed to be an easier way.
Maybe the question isn’t only whether I trust God with where I’m going.
Do I trust him enough not to take a shortcut to get there?
I love the insight into shortcuts. Thank you