Make a Choice

This time of year you are faced with more choices than any other time of year. What Christmas events will I attend, who in my family will I visit, what do I buy for presents for each member of my family, friends, co-workers? I need to choose will I travel. Will I spend a lot, will we need to be careful with spending this year. What Christmas cards will I send out? Who will I send them too? How will I keep myself from being too busy? How will I avoid stress? What will I do without power? How will I create focus for really enjoying the blessings that should be part of the holiday celebration?

We are faced with many choices. Some of these choices are very crucial and very hard to make. Since the beginning of mankind when Adam and Eve were asked to make a choice. There are incredible similarities to the choice that Adam and Eve were asked to make and the one Jesus is asked to make in the temptation we will be examining here in Luke.

Adam and Eve Tempted:

Gen 3: 1 Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, "Did God really say, 'You must not eat from any tree in the garden'?"
2 The woman said to the serpent, "We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, 3 but God did say, 'You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.' "
4 "You will not surely die," the serpent said to the woman. 5 "For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil."

The choice given to Adam and Eve goes beyond the fruit. The serpent makes it clear the choice is to listen to God or to listen to me. The serpent than makes a promise if you eat the fruit, you will not die and your eyes will be opened. And then he makes an incredible statement you will be like God. You will be independent of God. You will know good and evil. You will be able to make your own choices. This is a call to rebellion. This is the serpents story as of old.

Jesus Tempted:

Luke 4:5 The devil led him up to a high place and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. 6And he said to him, "I will give you all their authority and splendor, for it has been given to me, and I can give it to anyone I want to. 7So if you worship me, it will all be yours."
8Jesus answered, "It is written: 'Worship the Lord your God and serve him only.'"

It might not be obvious from the devil's statement what is being offered. What choice is the devil asking Jesus to make? We can see the choice in Jesus response. We can only worship either God or the devil. The devil is making a promise of authority and splendor. This promise is being given while Jesus is enduring the trials of the desert, hunger, loneliness and weariness. The devil is saying give up, leave service to God behind and I will give you all this. You will be free to live and worship me.

Ultimately this is the choice the devil always offers. Forget Christmas don't be bogged down by the Christian tradition. Live it up. Be your own person. Live for yourself. What has God done for you? Is He even relevant to these times? You can be like God yourself.

I hope you can see through the false hope that the Devil promises here. Remember that the devil did not say to Jesus don't worship God, he only said to worship him. He makes it sound like a choice to worship the devil or not worship the devil. But Jesus gets to the heart of the matter. We are to worship God and Him alone.

I don't have to really convince you. You know that walking away from God leaves an empty life, a hollow feeling, a desperation, a seeking of fulfillment, a searching. I really don't need to convince you that the devil's promises are empty. You wouldn't have read this far if that is the case. You would not have visited a site called Searching for the Savior.

There is a real hope for you in the promise of a savior. The reason we celebrate Christmas. To understand the gospel message see my first blog entry Simple Answers. In the mean time I wish you and your family a very Merry Christmas.

Pastor Keith