Safety and Security

January 20

(Luke 4:9-11 NIV) ““The devil led him to Jerusalem and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. "If you are the Son of God," he said, "throw yourself down from here. {10} For it is written: "He will command his angels concerning you to guard you carefully; {11} they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.””

(John 8:42-44 NIV) ““Jesus said to them, "If God were your Father, you would love me, for I came from God and now am here. I have not come on my own; but he sent me. {43} Why is my language not clear to you? Because you are unable to hear what I say. {44} You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father's desire. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.””

Temptation makes promises it has no intention of keeping. It promises us safe passage, but then ambushes us and does us great harm. It says things like, “Go ahead and jump. God won’t let you get hurt. He’ll take care of you. It won’t cost you anything. You can get away with it.” But in the end, we discover that it does hurt -- it hurts more than we ever thought possible. And it does cost us -- it costs us much more than we ever thought we’d have to pay. What we seem to easily forget is that the Devil is a liar and he will never change. Jesus said that lying is Satan’s native language. So be very careful when you hear that voice whispering in your ear, saying, “Go for it. It won’t cost you anything. It will be fine. No one will know.” There’s a good chance that you are hearing the same tempter who tried to work his magic on Jesus, but failed. May he experience failure in our lives as well. -- Friar Tuck’s Word of the Day