Luke 4:9-12
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.’”
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 is said: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.
Have you ever wanted to jump off a bridge to see if God is really there and would catch you in answer to your prayer? Yeah, me neither. That would certainly be putting God to the test which we are told not to do in this passage. So, how does this relate to me - in what ways do we put God to the test in everyday life?
How about in the area of finances? You hear a challenging message to give sacrificially to a project or a need and that God is faithful and will always meet your needs. So you give a large amount, large enough that you can't afford it. Unfortunately, when bills come due you can't pay them and have to take out a loan or borrow from someone. You say, "That's the last time I give sacrificially to the Lord, He didn't come through." What have you done? You have taken a leap to see if He would catch you. You have put God to the test and He didn't pass - in your eyes, even though He met the needs in humbling ways that you didn't like.
One I hear all the time is anger against God for not healing a loved one. The story usually goes that they were active in church until a loved one got sick. They prayed and fasted, took the loved one to healing services, had elders come, drummed up as much faith as possible, yet God didn't "answer their prayers." (even though He did) Usually when someone is an atheist or hates God, instead of using apologetics to try to reach them, a simple "what happened in your life that makes you so angry at God?" is a good place to start.
The book of Job gives us a great illustration of this temptation. Job experienced multiple tragedies in his life. His wife said, "curse God and die". She was putting God to the test. She was saying I will believe in You and follow You if You make sense , if life goes well, if you heal my husband. Job on the other hand said such things as, "should we expect only good from the Lord", "naked I came from the womb and naked I will return - blessed be the name of the Lord", "I know that my redeemer lives and am persuaded that He is able to keep that which I've committed unto Him until that day", and lastly, "Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him." You see Job didn't put God to the test, He was all in come what may. Like Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego who when about to be thrown into the furnace said "Our God can rescue us from the fire but if He doesn't we will still believe in Him."
In logic and in math we learned a lot of "if - then" principles like if 2+2=4 and 3+1=4 then 2+2=3+1. We are not to "if-then" God. The only "if - then" in our relationship with God should be if You died for my sins on the cross and then rose from the dead to give me life, then I will give you my whole life unconditionally. Have you done that?
Lord, help me not to put You to the test today. I surrender my whole life to you whether You make it easy or hard. Help me to have faith to know you are there and with me even though sometimes I want you to prove yourself over and over, Amen.
One I hear all the time is anger against God for not healing a loved one. The story usually goes that they were active in church until a loved one got sick. They prayed and fasted, took the loved one to healing services, had elders come, drummed up as much faith as possible, yet God didn't "answer their prayers." (even though He did) Usually when someone is an atheist or hates God, instead of using apologetics to try to reach them, a simple "what happened in your life that makes you so angry at God?" is a good place to start.
The book of Job gives us a great illustration of this temptation. Job experienced multiple tragedies in his life. His wife said, "curse God and die". She was putting God to the test. She was saying I will believe in You and follow You if You make sense , if life goes well, if you heal my husband. Job on the other hand said such things as, "should we expect only good from the Lord", "naked I came from the womb and naked I will return - blessed be the name of the Lord", "I know that my redeemer lives and am persuaded that He is able to keep that which I've committed unto Him until that day", and lastly, "Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him." You see Job didn't put God to the test, He was all in come what may. Like Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego who when about to be thrown into the furnace said "Our God can rescue us from the fire but if He doesn't we will still believe in Him."
In logic and in math we learned a lot of "if - then" principles like if 2+2=4 and 3+1=4 then 2+2=3+1. We are not to "if-then" God. The only "if - then" in our relationship with God should be if You died for my sins on the cross and then rose from the dead to give me life, then I will give you my whole life unconditionally. Have you done that?
Lord, help me not to put You to the test today. I surrender my whole life to you whether You make it easy or hard. Help me to have faith to know you are there and with me even though sometimes I want you to prove yourself over and over, Amen.
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