Wisdom and Temptation

Prayer-Soldier · Posted: Mon Apr 27, 2020 4:55 pm Post subject: Wisdom and Temptation

Wisdom and Temptation

Scripture:

And the Lord God formed man of the slime of the earth: and breathed into his face the breath of life, and man became a living soul. And the Lord God had planted a paradise of pleasure from the beginning: wherein he placed man whom he had formed. And the Lord God brought forth of the ground all manner of trees, fair to behold, and pleasant to eat of: the tree of life also in the midst of paradise: and the tree of knowledge of good and evil.

Now the serpent was more subtle than any of the beasts of the earth which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman: Why has God commanded you, that you should not eat of every tree of paradise? And the woman answered him, saying: Of the fruit of the trees that are in paradise we do eat: But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of paradise, God has commanded us that we should not eat; and that we should not touch it, lest perhaps we die. And the serpent said to the woman: No, you shall not die the death. For God does know that in what day soever you shall eat thereof, your eyes shall be opened: and you shall be as Gods, knowing good and evil. And the woman saw that the tree was good to eat, and fair to the eyes, and delightful to behold: and she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave to her husband, who did eat. And the eyes of them both were opened: and when they perceived themselves to be naked, they sewed together fig leaves, and made themselves aprons. (Genesis 2:7-9, 3:1-7)

Wherefore as by one man sin entered into this world and by sin death: and so death passed upon all men, in whom all have sinned. For until the law sin was in the world: but sin was not imputed, when the law was not. But death reigned from Adam unto Moses, even over them also who have not sinned, after the similitude of the transgression of Adam, who is a figure of him who was to come. But not as the offense, so also the gift. For if by the offense of one, many died: much more the grace of God and the gift, by the grace of one man, Jesus Christ, has abounded unto many. And not as it was by one sin, so also is the gift. For judgment indeed was by one unto condemnation: but grace is of many offenses unto justification. For if by offense of one man death reigned through one; much more they who receive abundance of grace and of the gift and of justice shall reign in life through one, Jesus Christ. Therefore, as by the offense of one, unto all men to condemnation: so also by the justice of one, unto all men to justification of life. For as by the disobedience of one man, many were made sinners: so also by the obedience of one, many shall be made just.
(Romans 5:12-19)

Then Jesus was led by the spirit into the desert, to be tempted by the devil. And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, afterwards he was hungry. And the tempter coming said to him: If you be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread. Who answered and said: It is written, Not in bread alone does man live, but in every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.

Then the devil took him up into the holy city, and set him upon the pinnacle of the temple, and said to him: If you be the Son of God, cast yourself down, for it is written: That he has given his angels charge over you, and in their hands shall they bear you up, lest perhaps you dash your foot against a stone. Jesus said to him: It is written again: You shall not tempt the Lord your God.

Again the devil took him up into a very high mountain, and showed him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them, and said to him: All these will I give you, if falling down you will adore me. Then Jesus said to him: Be gone, Satan: for it is written: The Lord your God shall you adore, and him only shall you serve. Then the devil left him; and behold angels came and ministered to him.
(Matthew 4:1-11)

Reflection:

The stories are many of how the worldly take advantage of innocence and ignorance through various means of illusion, misdirection, and deception. Truth is twisted to manipulate the unwitting. Deception, camouflaged with kernels of truth, are employed to swindle the na?ve. It is sordid when something of value is stolen, but the dark one cares not about what is right and just. The efforts of the evil one escalates the greater the value of what might be pilfered. The prudent know to place protections around that which they value. Just as the efforts of evil escalate, so do the prudent escalate the measures of defense as the value increases of what is at risk.

If this is what we do to protect what is only of worldly value and which decays, what are we willing to do to protect that of which is of heavenly and priceless value; our eternal soul? Jesus asks, ?What profit is there for one to gain the whole world and forfeit his life?? (Mark 8:36)

The evil one seduces through our ego, envy, and greed. He endeavors to dangle that which is shiny in front of us to distract our rational and manipulate us to his designs. He whispers into our ears what we want to hear. He tells us we can have our desires and it matters not who we might harm, for it is not our fault if the innocent find themselves in the way of what we want. In all his tantalizations and temptations, he never reveals the price he will take in return for his false promises that we may receive our desires; and if we receive anything at all, we still lose at the hands of his deceptions.

Was this not what the serpent did to Eve in the garden as he chided her for her belief in what God commanded? Did he not seduce her with falsehoods? Was she not enticed by what appeared to her as pleasing? Did he not manipulate her to disregard the instruction of her Creator? Did he not distract her from consideration of the price of her decision?

The design of the evil one was not just a harmless prank at the expense of Eve so all might point and laugh. It was a design to not only ensnare her, but her spouse as well; and as the first two were consumed, so began the battle for all their descendants as well.

This battle has played out to our very day. We might ask ourselves, how might we defend ourselves against the deceptions, disruptions, and designs of the evil one? Perhaps we should look to the example of Christ. In the desert, the evil one tempted Jesus through His hunger, but Jesus responded with the instruction of the Heavenly Father.

Considering the difficulty of deceiving someone who looks to the Holy Word of God as their guide, the evil one adjusts his tactic. He turns to a slice of the Word as a means to achieve his designs. The scripture he presents is true, but his deception is to present it in isolation rather than in the fullness of its context. The Word made flesh (cf. John 1:14) was not deceived, for He is the fullness of the Word and therefore knew the full context which must be applied to do what is right and just.

Turning to his last resort, the evil one promised all measures of power and wealth in exchange that the only begotten Son of God might turn from His Heavenly Father. Once more, Jesus turned to the power of the Word to defeat these deceptions. In these moments of temptation, the only begotten Son of God prevailed through His trust of the fullness of Wisdom contained in the Word which instructs the children of our Heavenly Father's creation.

What is revealed is that knowledge and wisdom is our defense and ignorance leaves us at risk. What we do not know can influence the soundness of our decisions. The prudent one will take note and make efforts to learn. In the matters of our soul, we are not the Word made flesh, therefore, it requires our study of the Word by which to gain its protection, and if we are to apply its full context, we must endeavor regularly and steadfastly to receive all of its instruction.

We must not make the mistake of considering ourselves protected by the wisdom of our own estimation, for again, where our wisdom is lacking, we leave open avenues by which the evil one shall infiltrate and consume us. On the surface, all may appear hopeless, for we are no match for the deceiver of deceivers. We must recognize we must have help on the journey.

As He prepared to go to His heavenly Father, Jesus did not leave His disciples defenseless, for He sent them the Holy Spirit to guide them and remind them of all which He taught. (cf. John 14:26) In prayer, we may ask Him for the same assistance. As we study His Word, we may ask that He shall be our guide and help us to comprehend the full context of the Wisdom which yields righteous decisions, not only for our benefit, but for the benefit of all who cross our path.

Questions for further reflection:

In what ways might we gain the wisdom by which to improve the quality of our decisions?

In what ways might we ask for assistance to apply the full context of His Word to enable our decisions so what they yield are right and just?

In what ways may we encourage one another to avail ourselves of the blessings of His Holy Truth?

May the peace and blessings of the Lord be with you always,
Prayer Soldier