Matthew 4:8,9
‘Again, the devil took Him along to a very high mountain and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory; and he said to Him, “All these things I will give You, if You fall down and worship me.”’
Jesus is at the end of His fast in the wilderness. He had been there for forty days. Today’s verses are the last temptation satan gives. It’s quite a big one. Jesus will one day die for the sins of the world. This will be beyond difficult. It’s a feat only God can do and come back to life.
We will see Jesus at the Garden of Gethsemane the night before His crucifixion. He prays and asks God if there is another way, then let this cup pass from Him. He is so anxious that He sweats blood.
Satan is offering another way. The only problem is that it involves something satan has wanted ever since he fell from glory. That is for Jesus to fall down and worship him. Jesus doesn’t fall for it. However the passage says it was a temptation. That is it interested Jesus and He thought about it.
This temptation was a short cut. It apparently offered the same result, but it would be immediate and painless. It really wouldn’t have worked. But it was a good temptation. Shortcuts are often that way. They seem to make sense, but the often don’t work.
I can recall a christian friend from my youth say, “We could be instantly mature in Christ if we committed all to Him.” At the time we all nodded. However that is not true. It’s actually got several things wrong with it. One problem is that it puts the burden of maturity on us. While we do consent to many points of obedience, it’s a miracle of God what He does in our lives. The second problem is that maturity does take time. We can look at a tree and see the rings on it. Forty years, a hundred years. They are so big and grand. It took time. So will our maturity.
Ecclesiastes 3:11 says, “He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men, yet they cannot fathom the work that God has done from beginning to end.” He makes us beautiful in His time. He builds the fruit of the Spirit in us, “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness and self control.” That’s amazing. All of us have shortcomings, Yet He builds those things in us. Many who knew us before Christ would be amazed at the work God has done in us. Many come to Christ at that witness.
Ephesians 2:10 says, “For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance as our way of life.” Like a cabinet maker works His craftsmanship into His product, so God works His wonders in us. We all appreciate well made items. We gaze at them. We stare at the quality and marvel. We admire the patient work put into it. A believer who walks with Christ is God’s workmanship. God’s quality stamp of approval is on us.
This quality work of God isn’t done through shortcuts. Here is a classic quote from The Velveteen Rabbit, “Generally, by the time you are Real, most of your hair has been loved off, and your eyes drop out and you get loose in the joints and very shabby. But these things don’t matter at all, because once you are Real you can’t be ugly, except to people who don’t understand.”
We can stumble across shortcuts. Take them and be blessed by them. But don’t be deceived by some of them. They can try to trick us. Praying to God and looking to scripture, as well as getting godly advice can help us avoid them. We grow in wisdom and will rarely be deceived. We know good things take time.
We addressed the fruit of the Spirit earlier. One of them is patience. This trait doesn’t need shortcuts. God’s ways take time. Patience is a big part of godly character. Blessed is the one who has it.
Lord, thank Lord for Your wisdom. You give patience and wisdom. Help us not to be tricked by bad shortcuts.