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Sunday, October 10, 2004
It's a story most of us have heard in Sunday School. If there's ever a movie about Jesus, this story usually makes the choice of scenes a director would choose to use. It's high drama when you think about it.
Satan vs. Jesus. Jesus has been fasting for 40 days in the wilderness. No creature comforts. He's at a very weak point in his life, physically speaking. And we all know how WE get when we're tired and crabby and miserable. Satan tempts Christ. Satan can save himself a lot of hassle if he can end Christ's ministry before it truly begins.
Satan makes a few offers: Food (and remember how long Jesus hasn't had food) and power. He makes a few misquotes of the Bible in order to try to get Jesus to make a wrong turn. There's no margin for error and Satan knows it.
In each case, Jesus responds with the words, "It is written..." He falls back on the reliability of Scripture, and this is where most sermons focus...rightly so, I might add.
I would like to put a magnifying glass on that last response, though. In verse 10 (which is in all caps in my Bible, and red letters in my wife's) Jesus tells Satan to begone, and then he refers back to Deuteronomy 6:13, that we should worship the Lord our God and serve Him only.
In the Deuteronomy verse, the Hebrew word is the word we tranlate Jehovah. The personal God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. The one who led the Israelites out of Egypt. That God.
In the New Testament, we learn that this same God is Jesus Christ. They are one in the same...and we'll explore that more tomorrow.
But the first reality of worship is that we must know Who it is that we are worshiping. Lots of other religions have a God that they worship and they aren't our God. That God isn't Jehovah.
And that relationship is crucial to our worship.
It doesn't matter how much we read the Word or preach the Word or teach the Word in our worship gathering, if we don't KNOW this God.
It doesn't matter if we confess corporately or as individuals if we don't KNOW this God.
It doesn't matter how much singing we do if we don't KNOW this God.
It doesn't matter if we give time, money or resouces. It doesn't matter if we practice silence before Him, or light candles or stand in reverence or read the Word publicly or do responsive readings or recite creeds or fellowship or have festivals or anything else.
The methods don't matter and are rendered meaningless without a relationship with Jehovah...the Creator God of the universe...the same God Who came to earth and died for our sins and rose again for us to live abundantly.
That God.
And, so, how's your relationship with Him these days?
Brent 10:15 PM
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