The Lenten Pilgrimage - Day 3 

     “The tempter came and said to him, ‘If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread’.  But he answered, ‘It is written, ‘One does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”

                                                                                                                            Matthew 4:3-4

   There’s much we could say about Jesus’ period of testing in the wilderness.  We might point to the tempter’s timing.  We could reflect on how the temptation to turn stones into bread comes at a moment when Jesus is most vulnerable, when he is hungry for physical food.

    Timing is often everything, even when it comes to temptation.  We can easily wave off temptation when we are resolute and strong.  Its in our moments of weakness when we are most vulnerable. Reflecting on this first temptation Jesus faced is a reminder that even a seemingly innocent step in the wrong direction, is a step in the wrong direction. 

    On day 3 of our Lenten Pilgrimage, let’s check for the chinks in our armor.  Let’s inspect our walls for the most likely breach.  What whispers from the tempter are most appealing to us right now?  And perhaps its good to remember that a skilled tempter often tempts with a pleasing package wrapped in layers of our own self-justification.  In other words, the most enticing and potentially dangerous temptations may not immediately look like temptations to us at all, something akin to "I know you're hungry, why not just turn these stones into bread."

     Something to ponder of this 3rd day of Lent - Where are you most vulnerable to temptation today?

  

Prayer

    Lord Jesus, you modeled for us the way of resisting temptation when you were confronted

    by your own physical hunger and spiritual test.  We confess that we have often not lived

    up to your example.  Too often we have justified our willingness to veer, ever so slightly,

    from the path you have provided for us.  Forgive us for our failings.  Renew in us a strong

    desire to follow you faithfully.  Give us strength to resist the voices that cry out to us in our 

    wilderness.  Reveal to us the sin we have allowed to remain in our hearts.  Grant us wisdom

    and strength to adopt a posture of confession and repentance in these holy days of Lent,

    that our witness may bring glory and honor to your name.  Amen.