The Book

The Book

Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted there by the devil (V.1).

Matthew 4:1-11

Reading

Things were off to a great start for Jesus in the beginning. In Matthew 3, He was baptised and then heard God the Father say these words, “This is my dearly loved Son, who brings me great joy” (V.17 NLT). But then things took a turn for the worse.

What happened next—Jesus meeting the devil in the wilderness—was not an accident. The Holy Spirit led Him into this face-off between the powers of heaven and hell. Thankfully, Jesus’ victory over the temptation he faced teaches us a really important lesson. When we find ourselves in our own ‘wilderness’ or tempted to do the wrong thing, we can follow Jesus’ example.

Notice that the devil came to Jesus when He was tired and hungry. Satan uses the same tactic with us. Waiting for when we’re ‘off guard’ in some way, he offers us quick fixes, easy ways out and selfish ways to make us feel better about ourselves. Jesus shows us what to do about these temptations: throw the Bible at the devil!

Jesus answered each temptation with words from the Bible: “People do not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God” (MATT. 4:4 NLT; SEE DEUT. 8:3). The Bible is full of verses about sex, cheating, lying, stealing, fighting and all our other temptations. If we take time to read them and think about them with God, we can use them when we’re under attack. It’s our best chance for success!

WHEN YOU WANT TO DO SOMETHING YOU SHOULDN’T, THE BEST PLACE TO GO IS THE BIBLE.

Youth Edition – Our Daily Bread Ministries