Day 16

Day Sixteen

Matthew 4: 8-11 Again, the devil took Him upon and exceedingly high mountain, and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. And he said to Him, "All these things I will give you if you will fall down and worship me." Then Jesus said to him, "Away with you satan! For it is written, You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only shall you serve." (Deut 6:13) 11 Then the devil left Him, and behold, angels came and ministered to Him.
The devil is constantly attempting to distract the people of God, he knows if he can't steal their salvation he can at the very least steal their joy, or keep them busy, either putting out fires, striving for personal gain, and much more. Satan knows if he can get man desiring the things of this world that eventually he can get him to worship the things of this world. Maybe not in the sense of standing before it with arms raised, but rather in true worship meaning that the things of the world has stolen his heart. You see worship truly is seeking after, desiring, working toward, and appreciating the thing that has your heart, or has become foremost in your mind. Worship is a powerful thing, and in this passage the devil shows us just how powerful he sees it, by offering the greatest of all his influences for it. In John 12:31 Jesus refers to satan as "The ruler of this world", so we know that satan is such. If he is the ruler of this world then what of this world do we desire to have, and more importantly why? I am not so naive as to suggest that there is nothing in this world worth having, I for one rather enjoy my wife, children, the out of doors and more, however there is nothing on this earth worthy of my worship! There is nothing here that should interfere with my worship of God, my fellowship with Him, and my time with Him. Likewise nothing should of this world interfere with my day set aside to rest in Him, and gathering with the saints in a house of worship. For many it is far past the time of checking our hearts, asking ourselves the tough questions, like; "why am I doing the things which I do?" and then responding properly and accordingly. Sometimes we just need to take inventory, see where were at, and make adjustments, and sometimes we need to take the sword to the idols in our lives and destroy them! So how about you, have you unknowingly become a worshipper of the things of this world?
Daily Prayer: Father reveal to us those things which we have inadvertently turned into idols in our lives, help us Lord to turn from the desires and temptations of this world and turn back to you, our first love, our God, our Redeemer, and our Savior, may we worship you and you alone oh God! Amen.
"Better to have love and be poor than be rich and have none"
Gene Burroughs Servant