Temptation. | Monday Invocation

“Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness, where for forty days he was tested by the devil.”

— Luke 4:1-2a NRSVUE

Temptation.

For many of us, it’s a heavy word disguised by the name of the actual thing(s) that we struggle with. We struggle with not giving into our temptation(s)—whether that be in relation to the guidelines around each of our individual sexual ethics, how we respond to others, or maybe it’s that temptation to eat that piece of food that we swore we were giving up for Lent. We are tempted every single day.

Throughout the passage in the gospel of Luke (4:1-13), Jesus is tempted three times: with food for breaking his fast, with power, and the request to test God to prove God’s Divine power. Each time, Jesus answers perfectly—resisting the temptation—and teaching us all along the way that it is not enough to just know scripture, but how we use Scripture to live out our faith.

Historically, I have given up something easy for Lent. At least something considered easy to me. I have spent years giving up soda, candy, and desserts because it was comfortable. That or I had an alternative motive for the thing I was giving up. I gamified the season of Lent, and it was about me getting the gold star at the end of it instead of using the time to draw nearer to the Divine. Winning lent became the priority instead of having a purposeful journey through it. I drove myself to try for perfection like Jesus in this passage—not recognizing that by that standard I would always miss the mark.

As I have gotten older, and sought to figure out what really means a lot to me. I learned that what was important for me was to have deeper relationships instead of shallow interactions that acted as a check box for me to mark and move on. Then the lightbulb went off and I realized that I should be pursuing a deep vulnerability in all things—including how I spend this time of Lent.

Maybe that is you this Lent? Overwhelmed, tired, stressed, and can not even fathom giving up anything else right now because it feels like you have already lost so much recently. You’re looking for something different and peace seems so out of reach right now. Maybe instead of giving up the easy things—remember easy is different to each of us—we reject that temptation and take on something that we find more meaningful in a search that this season and the seasons following will set us up for some tangible change in our personal lives or possibly even in our communities. What that thing is will be wildly different for each of us. However, maybe wildly different is exactly how we get through this season of life.

P.S. Want to talk through these passages in community? Join our Lenten Community Groups! Our Sunday evening group is full but we still have space in our Wednesday and Thursday morning groups! Sign up at the link below today!