Good Morning!
Luke 4:13; “And when the
devil had ended every temptation, he departed from him until an opportune time.”
There are a few verses
in the Bible that, for some strange reason, strike me as really
interesting. This is one of those
verses. This comes at the end of Luke’s
description of Jesus being tempted by the devil in the wilderness. As you read Luke’s account, it reads as if
the devil is hounding and tempting Jesus for forty days. Throughout this time, Jesus ate nothing; so,
the devil tempted him with bread. The
devil tempted Jesus with food after he had not eaten for forty days. How much more of an opportune time is
there? Yet we know that the devil
continued to tempt Jesus.
Scripture doesn’t
specifically state it; but I would guess that the time Jesus spent praying in
the Garden of Gethsemane on the night of his betrayal was an opportune
time. As Jesus hung on the cross dying
and the scribes and Pharisees hurled insults at him, that was probably an
opportune time. One thing we can really
see; the devil does not play fair.
The devil watches you
and me and looks for an opportune time.
He seems to find them, and he doesn’t play fair. It often occurs at a time when you are
vulnerable. Maybe when you meet a group
of new people, and someone makes a comment about how “backwards and judgmental”
Christians are and they look at you.
Maybe it is the new significant other of your son or daughter makes a
statement about abortion or homosexuality, how do you handle it, how do you
answer? These are opportune times.
It is also an opportune
time when we experience events that make no sense, and we wonder why something
happens. Why did the typhoon hit the
Philippines and kill so many people? How
could a loving God do that? Maybe a
loved one is suffering and there seems no hope of getting better; this is an
opportune time.
God has promised to
always be there for us and to give us strength to endure. One thing we need to do in this regard is to
be aware of “opportune times.” There
will be times when we are vulnerable.
Certain events, certain people, certain situations, all will make us
vulnerable. All of these are opportune
times for the devil. So, it is at times
like this that we must be aware of the devil’s temptations.
Know that even if we
fail or slip in our temptation that we are still forgiven, we are still God’s
redeemed child. God gives us the chance
to withstand the devil, to be a witness for him. We should pray to accomplish this. It is our chance; but even if we fail; we are
still loved by God.
Father of grace, the
devil seeks out opportune times to tempt us.
Give us the strength to withstand these times and to speak your word of
live and grace. Be with those who are
most tempted at this time and give them your Spirit of strength to withstand
the attacks this day. In Jesus’ precious
name we pray, amen.
God’s Peace,
Pastor Bret
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