So Much to be Thankful For

My favorite holiday is Thanksgiving.   It is so uncomplicated.  Sure we have our family together and a morning of food preparation but we don't create a lot of commitment.  Last year I think there was just 4 of us and this year there was 12.  My friend Bryan and his girlfriend Loise came up for a visit from Massachusetts, knowing that the kids would be around so that he could see them.  He didn't even hang around for dinner. When I say kids, that's 19 - 39 the age of my oldest son-in-law.

I used to call Bryan my best friend, but that is an odd term, like my friends are in a competition and one of them wins to become my best friend.  Especially since my real best friend is my wife of 32 years.  I think it is more accurate to say Bryan is one of my most significant friends.  We have known each other since we were about 7 or 8 years old. We were nearly inseparable during our high school years.  At that time I wouldn't say we hung out with the wrong crowd, I think by ourselves just the two of us, we were the wrong crowd.  However surprisingly we both accepted Jesus as our savior within a couple of months of each other through entirely separate circumstances.  We have both grown in our faith and life experiences in different ways, but I praise God that Bryan has persevered in his love for God.  As we talk on the phone he reminds me often to be thankful for what we have.  This is not an idle reminder since like myself Bryan lost his parents early in life and though challenged with disabilities makes the most of each day and sacrificing much for those whose lives he touches.

Yesterday we had so much variety of food on the table.  As a matter of fact, even though I took just a little bit of everything I still didn't have everything.  I was making turkey sandwiches today, when I realized that I didn't have any stuffing.  I thought maybe we didn't serve any, until my son went into the fridge and pulled some out.

Can we even imagine being in the desert and fasting for 40 days. Sometimes its a challenge to fast 4 hours. Lets look specifically at the next 2 verses in Luke.

Luke 4:3 And the devil said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread.”
4 But Jesus answered him, saying, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God."

Is this really a question?  Did Satan doubt that Jesus was the Son of God?  Did he think Jesus doubted it, after God the Father had declared after the baptism that "...this is my Son, in whom I am well pleased". The question that Satan is really asking is since you are the Son of God, act like it, use your powers, don't suffer in hunger like a human.  Claim the privilege due to you.  Don't let God the Father push you around.  Go ahead and turn these stones into bread. 

This is why Jesus turns it around and responds with a proclamation that says in essence, I am here as a man.   I am not here to live a life of privilege, but to do the will of God.  To obey God's Word.  To live by God's Word.  If Jesus was to function and invoke His divine nature then he would not be like us.  He would not have suffered temptation.  He would not be worthy as a sacrifice for our sins.  He would not be the last Adam. So it is important that he faced each challenge as a man, trusting in God the way we need to trust in God.

If you are a Christian, isn't this exactly the type of temptation that Satan lays before us.  If you are saved...?  If you are a Son of God...?  You deserve better... You do not have to sacrifice your time for others...  You can live your life anyway you want...  You are better than others...   This is the same tune Satan has been playing from the very beginning.  So we can look at the temptation of Jesus and see how Satan does the same to us. And like Jesus' response we need to read and live by the Word of God so that we can resist the devil and he will flee.