Forward Movement is an official, non-profit agency of the Episcopal Church whose mission is to create compelling content for Christian living. Since 1935 we have published the quarterly devotional Forward Day by Day, as well as pamphlets, booklets, and books that encourage and nourish people in their lives of prayer and faith.
SUNDAY, March 13
Matthew 4:1-11. The tempter came to him.
Today’s lessons are heavy into sin. There’s the story of the fall of Adam and Eve. Then comes part of Paul’s long reflection in Romans on the universality of sin. And then we have Jesus’ temptation by Satan in the wilderness.
The story of Jesus’ temptation points to the nature of sin. The devil tempts Jesus with pleasure, fame, and power. These are not wrong in themselves—we need bread, some people will be famous, and someone must exercise authority in the world. These are morally neutral facts. But when pleasure, fame, or power begins to drive our minds and actions, we find ourselves lost in the empty and the transitory. None of it lasts; it comes and goes. Why drool over nothing?
Jesus saw that, but we often do not see it, marinating as we do in materialistic values and advertisements urging us to seek pleasure, fame, and power. Then we wonder why we feel so empty and discontented. Nor is this anything new. The psalmist experienced it: “Why are you so full of heaviness, O my soul? and why are you so disquieted within me? Put your trust in God; for I will yet give thanks to him, who is the help of my countenance, and my God” (Psalm 42:6-7).
Jesus did that. So can we.
PRAY for the Diocese of Minna (Prov. of Abuja, Nigeria)
Ps 32; Genesis 2:15-17; 3:1-7; Romans 5:12-19
View the daily Lectionary Readings at Satucket.com.
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