Growing Through Time Alone With the Lord

Then the devil taketh him up into the holy city, and setteth him on a pinnacle of the temple, And saith unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down: for it is written, He shall give his angels charge concerning thee: and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone.  Jesus said unto him, It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.   -Matthew 4:5-7 (KJV) 

Consider for a moment the scope of temptations we face every day.  All it takes is giving into one desire, one action, or one carrying out of a behavior we know we should not do and we are ensnared.  All we have worked for, including marriage, family relationships, and our standing in the community will come crashing down.  In the end the devil laughs at our inability to resist.  No sin is worth so great and terrible a price.  Jesus fully understood the power of the devil and the need to resist him at all costs.  The Lord would not be tricked and neither would He be lured into a behavior which ran counter to what He had come into the world to accomplish. 

The Lord set an example we can follow, and while we may not go away and fast a full 40 days, we are to commit ourselves to daily prayer and time in God’s Word.  Ongoing and daily prayer is the process by which the Lord has called us to grow stronger in our stand against immorality and ungodliness.  The world looks on in wonder at followers of Christ who have taken a firm stand upon God’s Word and who refuse to be ensnared by the enticements of the world.  As we move forward day-by-day we grow stronger in our resolve and commitment to be faithful to the Lord at all times.   

Every fall Andrea and I spend a weekend with another couple who we have known many years, and the place we have traditionally gone is a state park which offers a campground and cabins.  The cabins are fully equipped with electricity and heat, but no television, which suits us fine.  Many times I have had conversations with people who were appalled at the prospect of spending a weekend without cable TV.  For us, this is the best aspect of our annual trip; an entire weekend without TV.  Have our senses become so dulled to the Spirit of God we cannot stop and commune with him even for an hour?   

Warm weather is fast approaching, which means Ada (our dog) and I can resume our weekly hikes through the local back country.  Again, the best part of these hikes is no TV, no computers, and no cell phones.  Get away and spend time with the Lord.  You will be amazed at how you will grow in your faith and spiritual resolve.