Worship and Serve

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF LUKE

WORSHIP AND SERVE

Luke 4:5-8

5 The devil led him up to a high place and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. 6 And he said to him, "I will give you all their authority and splendor, for it has been given to me, and I can give it to anyone I want to.   7 So if you worship me, it will all be yours."

8 Jesus answered, "It is written: 'Worship the Lord your God and serve him only.'" 

NIV

Here is another temptation of man. We are seeing the temptation that the devil presents to Jesus, to own all the kingdoms of the world. The fact is that Jesus will own all the kingdoms of the world. The Father has promised his Son that he will inherit all the kingdoms, his righteousness will be the scepter of his kingdom.  Our lesson seems to come alive in this temptation of Jesus. The devil wanted to give Jesus that which he would already have. The temptation of not having to endure the cross in order to attain all this might seem appealing, but to have to give up the throne in heaven and bow down to the devil could never be an option for Jesus. But what about us? Can the devil tempt us with riches, the riches of heaven, if we worship him? Christians would never admit to worship of the devil, which is for some, dark-sided, black hooded group who gather in the candle lite darkness, chanting some incantations in worship of Satan. Christians know he is the enemy of their soul, and give him no credibility at all. Yet are we tempted with the riches of this world? Does the devil tempt us with that which we have been promised? Of course it can be difficult to wait for it, as well as we have to endure death, the end of this life in order to have it. We also have to adhere to all the commands of God while we are here. Yes salvation is free, but as believers we are faced with all the changes in thought, attitude and behavior, which is within his Word, that we need to strive for. The devil says we can have riches here and now, not having to wait, just say we believe in God and call it a day, while we actually worship all the things, all the riches of this world, that he will give us, and thus in actuality we are worshipping him. Jesus responded again with the word of God, telling the devil that it is written that we are to worship the Lord our God and serve him only. That in itself is the whole of all theology. Worship and serve God and God alone. We should not allow the devil to deceive us into believing it is alright to store up earthy riches for our future life, or to seek after them with such passion or desire. Oh yes, he whispers in our ear, and tells us he can give them all to us now, we need not wait. Just choose desire instead of God. But we must worship and serve the Lord.