Tempted

Look into the messages of our world -- our lives -- and seek out those subtle temptations. The ones that prioritize our time and demand to be on top. The priorities that force God, force prayer, force Love and service to the back burner. The things in our lives and in our world that we accept as right but somehow down inside cause us anguish.

The temptation of the world is to do the "right thing" instead of God’s thing -- to fall victim to the subtle manipulation that places God’s will secondary in our lives. To cry out for Jesus to turn the stones of our life into bread. The temptations and diversions are all around us -- they distract us from our journey with Jesus. It is a journey that starts today in the Judean wilderness with the temptations and subtle manipulations of Satan. Our journey to the cross of Christ will continue for the rest of Lent -- for these 40 days and 40 nights.

During these days of Lent we have a choice -- a choice to stay in the wilderness ravines and complain about the fact that Jesus has not turned the stones of our life into bread. Or we can reject the crafty lies of Satan and live in a new existence where we too reject the ways of Satan and all his empty promises. Trusting that following God’s plan for out life will bring us to the right place at the right time. We can reject the evil subtle lies in our culture and live in accordance with God’s will. If we choose to follow God’s way, we will walk out of the desert of temptations with Jesus and join Him on his journey -- his journey of following God, his journey of Love. We will follow him to see the miracles of miraculous feeding and his triumph over the Kings of the earth.

Come and follow Jesus through this dusty desert to the cross.

What are the greatest temptaions in our life? Is it to cheat? We are entereing the season for the great American chaeting game called Tax preparation. Is that a great temptation? To under-report or perhaps stretch the truth to drop down from one tax bracket to another? Is the great temptation to steal or to cut a corner at work? To do the job only to the point where we know we can get by with something. What are we tempted to do? Steal cable TV if we know a friend who can get us a "special" converter box? Are we tempted to take risks at work and try to get ahead at any means? Are we tempted to lie and cover up our mistakes so somebody else will get blamed for them? Perhaps.

For most of us, those are pretty much the great temptations that occurr in our daily lives. Although things may not be perfect, we have a roof over our heads, food in the refrigerator and clothes in our closets. Most of us are lucky, and have been blessed by God. Our lives have not been easy but they have not been absolutely down and out. I would dare to say that very few of us have really been tempted in the manner described in Today’s Gospel.

For Jesus went into the desert with nothing and was tempted by Satan to provide himself with the most basic of necessities - bread, food, nourishment and satisfaction. For the place where Jesus went is an absolutely desolate place where the temptations.