Only Worship

 DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO LUKE

ONLY WORSHIP

Luke 4:1-13

4:1 Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the desert, 2 where for forty days he was tempted by the devil. He ate nothing during those days, and at the end of them he was hungry. 3 The devil said to him, "If you are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread." 4 Jesus answered, "It is written: 'Man does not live on bread alone.'"  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.'"  9 The devil led him to Jerusalem and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. "If you are the Son of God," he said, "throw yourself down from here. 10 For it is written: "'He will command his angels concerning you to guard you carefully; 11 they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.'" 12 Jesus answered, "It says: 'Do not put the Lord your God to the test.'"  13 When the devil had finished all this tempting, he left him until an opportune time.

NIV

Of course, the devil would want Jesus to worship him, but let’s get real, the devil is a created being by none other than Jesus, so why would Him who created everything that has been created, worship that which He created. It is interesting that the devil claims to own all the kingdoms of the world and has the authority to give them to whoever he wants. But then we can see there are two kingdoms at play here. First, the kingdom of this world and, second the kingdom of God. Here is where we had to abdicate our citizenship in the kingdom of the world in order to become a citizen of the kingdom of God. This is another proof the world system is under the control of the devil. Here is the danger for us, in that we could get caught up in desiring the things in the kingdom of the world, which in some sense would mean we want the devil to give us a piece of his kingdom. Of course, we need so many physical things in life to get along. God created the world for us to live in, and because of the sin of Adam, we must work by the sweat of our brow for our sustenance. However, it is when we begin to run after those things that the pagans do, as Jesus warned us about, that is when we are not running after God. Jesus told us not to worry about clothes or about what we will eat or drink, the pagans, the unbelievers run after those things, the things of the kingdom of the world, but our heavenly Father knows we need those things, but if we seek first, if we run like crazy after the kingdom of God, and His righteousness, He will provide all we need. It is interesting that David wrote in one of his psalms, “The sorrow of those will increase who run after other gods”. That would be the god of this world, the devil. Also Jeremiah made it clear, when he asked, “How am I defiled, I have not run after the Baals?”. Again, that would have been other gods, the world system. This would mean that if we are running after the things of the world, we would be defiled. No, let us not get confused about this, we will worship our Lord God only, and give Him all the honor and glory He is due, therefore, trusting him to give us all the things we need to live on the world he created for us and we will not worship the world system, trusting in it to provide us with all its knowledge and wealth, for to fear, to revere the Lord is the beginning of all wisdom and the Kingdom of God is all the wealth we will ever need. This is why we seek His kingdom first and only worship God.