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temptation
A new level, a new devil. I couldn’t believe my ears when a young mother said this during a Bible study once. I rarely heard anyone talk so openly about the opposition that comes when you walk with Christ — even though our Presbyterian confessions speak of this reality. In the Heidelberg Catechism, Question 127 asks why we pray, “Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil.” The answer: . . . since our mortal enemies, the devil, the world, and our own flesh cease not to assault us, do Thou therefore preserve and strengthen us by the power of Thy Holy Spirit, that we may not be overcome in this spiritual warfare . . . .
All of us face temptations in the course of our lives. It is an inevitable part of the human condition. We pray, “Lead us not into temptation,” but temptations are going to come in any event. Jesus was, as a fully authentic human being, also subject to temptation — in this case, at the hands of Satan himself. Unlike us, however, Jesus withstood temptation.
