Matthew 4:5-7
Then the devil took him to the holy city and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. "If you are the Son of God," he said, "throw yourself down. For it is written: "'He will command his angels concerning you, and they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.'" Jesus answered him, "It is also written: 'Do not put the Lord your God to the test.'"
When the devil tempted Jesus, he asked Jesus to jump off from the roof of the temple because he said that God had promised that He will lift us up. Actually, God never made such a promise. The devil was quoting Psalm 91:11-12: "For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways; they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone." When devil quoted this passage, he purposely skipped "to guard you in all your ways," but not to doing something away from his ways like jumping off a building. Jesus clearly knew the ploy of the devil was to tempt us by distorting God's word. Therefore, He responded to the devil by saying: "Do not put the Lord your God to the test." Tempting means using our own ways and rationality to do things that God never told us to do, and that's why we can't expect God to be responsible for the outcome. When a person, however, is doing what God told him to do, and he can expect God to take responsibility for what he did.
Even though God sometimes instructs us to do things that are beyond what our rationality can comprehend, as long as God has instructed us, He will be responsible for completing it with His zeal. When Abraham was about to sacrifice Isaac by placing Isaac on the altar, God prepared a lamb to replace Isaac. When Moses led the Israelites to cross the Red Sea, as soon as he pointed his staff to the sea, Red Sea parted. When Joshua led the Israelites to cross the Jordan River, as soon as the feet of the Israelites touched river water, the river parted. God instructed them, they followed His instructions, and they could expect God to be responsible for the outcome.
We often like to tempt God, so may God help us to read His Word so that we may stay on the right path. The Bible tells us that God's Word is the lamp to our feet and light to our paths; when we read God's Word, it becomes our strength. Not only that, we should also follow His Word in our daily life so that we will not offend Him. When we follow God's Word and walk on God's path, we will experience His faithfulness. Let us be sensitive to God's guidance in our lives!
Pray with Pastor Tong
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