Worship Who

 DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MATTHEW

WORSHIP WHO

Matt 4:8-11

8 Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. 9 "All this I will give you," he said, "if you will bow down and worship me." 10 Jesus said to him, "Away from me, Satan! For it is written: 'Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.'"  11 Then the devil left him, and angels came and attended him.

NIV

This is the third temptation which is the most hideous of them all. The desire for the kingdom of this a strong one which is always available for anyone who wants to pursue after it. Here the devil offered Jesus want was already His for everything that was made was made by Him. Although as Jesus came in the form of man, he was able to fall to temptation as every man is, however, He is also fully God, and would not yield to this temptation. This is the very reason the devil was cast from heaven in the first place. Lucifer was filled with pride and wanted to be like God or better then God and that could never happen. So, it is not a surprise that he wanted Jesus to bow down and worship him. But this is the challenge we as mankind must also face. We are told to seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness. This would mean that we are not to seek after the kingdom of this world. Just what does seek after the kingdom of this world look like instead of seeking after the kingdom of God? We know that we cannot seek both for Jesus made it clear that we cannot serve two master, God and money, or in this sense, the kingdom of God and the kingdom of the world. It is not that we cannot have some of the things of this world, for Jesus said that he knows we need them and that because we seek His kingdom first and foremost in our lives, he would add some of the things in this world to us. That is things would be added, gifted to us. We have some things, even things like a home, car, and other items because God added them to us, not because we worked hard for them, labored to increase our wealth, storing up as much as we can for our own benefit. If we are doing that, working hard, or smart, and laboring to achieve success, and increasing our wealth and looking to it as our source of security in our lives, then maybe, just maybe we might be bowing, ever every so slightly, to the kingdom of this world, serving another master other then God. That is just not the case, for we know, without question that all we have and all we all is an absolute result of God added whatever we have to us. Have we worked hard? Yes! We have been told that we would work all the days of our lives, but the sweat of our brow, we would work the soil for our sustenance, at least that is what was told to Adam when he was cast from the paradise of God. In one sense, we are still the descendent of Adam, for we are in the same flesh he was. Yes, we are now children of God, but we have not been removed from the earth yet, and we are still subject to committing sin, so perhaps we still need to work all the days of our lives for our sustenance, but without seeking the kingdom of this world. Maybe that is a fine line, but we have to be careful not to get to involved with wanting all that world has to offer, when God offers us far more then anything in this world, and again, we cannot want both. So then do we worship the things of this world, or God? Do we seek after things, or God? Choose this day whom you will serve, but as for me and my house will will serve the Lord.