temptation

There are some things I want. I’d like to be healthier, for example, and I’d like more time for my hobbies.

There are probably more things I don’t want. I don’t want to be on jury duty - I am for the next two months. I don’t want to have to deal with drama. I’m tired of being forced to confront complicated issues that don’t directly affect me.

This morning, I’m thinking it would be good to be very careful about my wants. Matthew 4:2 tells me this about the temptation of Jesus in the wilderness: “After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. The tempter came to him and said, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.”

It strikes me that Satan uses my wants to tempt me; in fact, that may be a primary way. He thought he saw an opportunity with Jesus; after 40 days without food, surely Jesus would desperately want some bread. Surely he’d want it enough to sin for it.

James 1:13-15 says, “When tempted, no one should say, “God is tempting me.” For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; but each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed. Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.”

My desires become evil when they take me farther from God. For Jesus, there was nothing wrong with wanting bread, just in wanting to take a shortcut to get it. God had a plan to feed Jesus and wanted Jesus to trust him. In the same way, my best desires can be twisted to tempt me. My desire to be healthy can tempt me to sacrifice relationships to spend time in the gym. My wish for a drama-free life could cause me to turn my back on friends who need me. Wanting not to serve on a jury could lead me to lie during selection.

That’s one reason Jesus wasn’t snared by the tempter’s lies: he wanted most of all to do God’s will. Maybe when that’s the single, dominant focus of my life I won’t struggle as much either.