Daily Lent Devotions from Church Street UMC
Monday, February 22
By Mrs. Mildred Weeks, March 15, 1978
Everyday Temptations
Read: Matthew 16:1
“The Pharisees also with the Sadducees came, and tempting desired him that he would shew them a sign from heaven.”
When I think of Lent, I think of Jesus’ forty days in the wilderness, and the dramatic confrontation of Jesus by the devil.
In the past, I have tended to think that this single episode in Jesus’ life was His one great temptation. But this year, as I searched the records of the Gospels for a Lenten meditation, the above verse caught my attention, and as I thought about it, I had a different perspective. Now, I realize that this pattern was repeated over and over during the years of His ministry that followed.
The encounter with the Pharisees and the Sadducees was one of many daily encounters which could be called Everyday Temptations. Jesus was challenged by His family, His friends, His enemies, and by sincere followers of His way. Even His own feelings of heavy sorrow had to be faced in the Garden of Gethsemane.
Temptation may come to us dramatically in times of crisis in our lives, but surely it comes to us daily as it did to Jesus. Are we responding to our life situations in a manner worthy of a follower of Christ?
Prayer
O God, during this Lenten Season, we pray for new understanding of the way we, as followers of Christ, should order our lives. Guide us through our daily encounters with our families, our friends, and all individuals who touch our lives. Amen.
