Friday, February 19 - Luke 4:12

[Pastor Carla Thompson Powell]

Friday, Feb 19
Luke 4:12 Jesus answered him, “It is said, ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’”

I was talking today about the story of Martin Luther in the thunderstorm where he promised “St. Anne, if you’ll keep me safe, I’ll become a monk” (my words). People say this kind of stuff all the time: “Lord, show me
which way to go, and I’ll follow your way.” “Lord, heal my mother, and I swear
I’ll be a more regular churchgoer.” Unfortunately, we’re not all as faithful as
Luther was on keeping those promises when we put the Lord to the test.

 

 The devil has placed these temptations before Jesus and says, “don’t worry, God will catch you if you jump!” But Jesus is not fooled. “Devil, I won’t test God that way. God isn’t my
little genie waiting to jump through my hoops.” God is not just sitting around
waiting for us to need our God fix. God hopes that we will always be in
relationship together, not just when we have a desperate situation or need.
When I think of “putting the Lord to the test,” that’s what I think of – when we
have the attitude that we can demand something from God, and God has to come
through because God is God.

 

I also love how Jesus answers the devil’s scripture quotation with a scripture quotation. Battling scripture with scripture! Harkens back to Jack’s comments about the need to know scripture well so that we can counter the
temptations that come our way with scripture.

[Ralph Conrad]

Oops, I think I answered this with my statment in response the passage for Thursday. I to like Jesus use of scripture to counter the devil's scripture quotations. As I shared in my response on Thursday about the need of something solid under my feet and to hold on to when I am looking out from a high place, I find that it is always my faith that moves me through times of temptation and it is through my study of scripture that my faith in God is bolstered.

[Jack Taral]

The ideal of testing God here and what Ps Carla said I think is different. In Luther case it was fear that cause the pomise. I also think of Sergean Alvin York a real - life quiet pacifistic Tennessee farmer who became the most decorated hero World War 1, who single handedly securing a German postion and took a 132 prisoners while also killing some. Before this he made a promise to God about not killing anyone and let he felt combelled to break this promise. Or I think of Gideon and the fleece in the Old Testament who sought a test and a additional test from God. In this case the devil is trying to get Jesus to test God to demoral Jesus faith in God. Let people do test God and for the wrong reason of self interest and not God interest. It interesting how Jesus use the book of the law to respond kind of like reminding the devil of the line which he stepping over.

[Carolyn Placko]

Yeah, there have been times in my life when I've tested God, "Show me a sign and I'll do such and such so I can get what I want." Those were mostly in adolescence, but even as an adult I've made deals with God. For example, 11 years ago I was diagnosed with ovarian cancer, and one of my first prayers was, "God please don't let me waste a day of my life from here on," with the idea that if I survived I would make the most of my life, whatever that meant. What I did manage to do, however, was to strive every day (some days better than others) to live the way I believe God wants me to. That meant I had to quit doing some things that were bad for me. And for a while I told myself that if I got cancer again I'd go back to doing what I had been doing. Now I don't think I would. I believe cancer was how God had to tell me it was time to change my life for the better. It was the highest price I ever had to pay for anything, but the journey continues to be well worth it.