As I read this text I
can’t help but imagine an infomercial for “The True Identity Challenge.” I imagine a devil figure dressed in red with
a flaming pitchfork. Do you want to know
who the real Son of God is? In this 40
day reading guide with step-by-step instructions you can test the identity of
the real Son of God. First, say, “If you
are the Son of God, command this stone to become a loaf of bread.” The real Son of God will resist your
temptation despite his hunger. Second,
say, “To you I will give their glory and all this authority; for it has been
given over to me, and I give it to anyone I please. If you, then, will worship me, it will be all
yours.” The real Son of God will resist
your temptation by saying “worship only the Lord.” Thirdly, say, “If you are the Son of God,
throw yourself down from here.” Again, the
real Son of God will resist your temptation.
Jesus’ ability to resist your temptation will be the proof that he is
indeed the Son of God. You can have your
very own copy of this step-by-step guide for only $40. To purchase this 40 day reading guide dial
1-800-Son-O-God. If you make your
purchase in the next five minutes we will throw in a free copy of how to
protect your own identity as a child of God.
Temptation
is all around us. Want to be
tempted? Turn on the television. Each day we are exposed to thousands of
advertisements. Open the advertisements
in a magazine and be exposed to the pressure to have flawless external beauty. Walk through the grocery store, especially
when you are hungry and be tempted by junk food. Listen to the radio and hear about the newest
car or the new way to lose weight. Talk
to your friend and find out the latest gossip.
Seriously, temptation is all around us.
Not a day goes by without temptations being thrown at us, whether we
seek them out or not. Jesus was not
exempt from that temptation. Jesus, as
one who was fully human, was tempted. He
understands what it is like to be tempted.
Now Jesus wasn’t tempted with new technology or a new car. He wasn’t tempted by the new flavor of ice
cream or the new clothing color for the season.
He wasn’t tempted by weight loss schemes or the latest gossip. He was tempted to prove his identity as the
Son of God.
Temptation
and trust seem to have a lot in common here.
Jesus trusted who he was. Jesus
trusted his identity as the Son of God.
Since he had trust he was able to resist the temptation being sent his
way. In our lives I think the same is
true. If we trust who we are as children
of God then temptation is easier to resist.
One author puts it this way, “To the degree that we trust God for our
daily needs, for a sense of purpose, for our identity as a child of God, the
temptations of the world have, frankly, little appeal. But to the degree that we allow our natural
insecurity to lead us to mistrust God, we are open to the possibility, appeal,
and temptation of the proposition that it is all up to us, that God is not able
to provide and so we’d better take matters into our own hands.” Sounds easy, right? No, not really. I will be the first to admit that trust is
hard to put into practice. So much
around us in our world causes us to put our trust in ourselves or in other
things, so that we don’t actually trust God.
I
just finished reading an incredible book that focused on trust. The book, “By Faith, Not By Sight,” is
written by Scott MacIntyre. It is
Scott’s story about his first twenty plus years as a singer, pianist, and
songwriter. So what does music have to
do with trust? Well, Scott was vision
impaired from birth, and while not completely blind, he suffered from severe
tunnel vision. He started making music
by ear when he was very young and then sang with his family in a family
band. Each time they performed they
trusted that God would use their gifts to bless others. He studied music, wrote music, and recorded
music. The day of his college
graduation, with plans and a scholarship to further his education abroad, he
was diagnosed with kidney failure.
Throughout the trials of his blindness and life threatening illness he
trusted God, at a time when most people might think that God has somehow
abandoned them. After a kidney
transplant he goes on to be the first blind performer on season eight of
American Idol, reaching out to others with his story, his faith, and his trust
in God. Scott trusted God.
I
want you to take a moment to think about what it is that you do trust God
with. Think of just one thing, one thing
that you feel confident to trust God with.
Maybe it is your family or friends.
Maybe it is your job or sense of security. Tuck it away in your mind. Over the next 40 days of our Lenten journey I
would invite you to thank God for that piece of your life and the ability to
trust God with it. Now think of one
thing that you are struggling to trust God with. Maybe it is a relationship or a struggle at
work. Maybe it is uncertainty about the
future or finances. Tuck it away in your
mind. Think about what makes it easier
for you to trust God with one thing and not the other. Over the next 40 days of Lent I would invite
you to pray for the ability to give God control of that thing which you are
struggling to trust God with.
Let
that trust in God become part of your identity not just for Lent, but for
forever. At the core of the temptations
that Jesus resisted was the theme of his identity. The tempter was questioning Jesus’ identity,
who he was as the Son of God. There are
days when our very identity is questioned as well. Who are we?
We are parents, spouses, children, siblings, co-workers, and
friends. Ultimately we are children of
God. That is central to our
identity. There are, however, things and
people in our world who want to question that identity. They want to question who we are as
individuals, as Christians and as God’s children. That identity stems from our ability to trust
God, our ability to know that God sent God’s only son into this world that we
should not perish, but that we should have eternal life. So, when the storms of life rage around
us. When the temptations are thrown at
us with full force. Use your identity as
a child of God to resist those temptations.
Use your identity as a child of God to trust God, for who God is and for
who God has created you to be. Amen.
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