Worship the Lord your God
‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only you shall serve.’
And Jesus answered and said to him, “Get behind Me, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only you shall serve.’ ”
All the glory, praises and honor be to the Holy Father in Jesus’ mighty name!
The subject verse from the Gospel according to Luke, brings before us the second temptation of Jesus Christ. This event took place immediately after He ended the forty days of wilderness. Satan offered the kingdoms of the world to Jesus in return for his worship. But Jesus rebuked the Satan and reminded him of the authority of Lord the Almighty God. Jesus quoted the following verse from the Book of Deuteronomy responding to Satan’s offer.
‘You shall fear the Lord your God and serve Him, and shall take oaths in His name. ‘
Deuteronomy 6:13 NKJV
The Satan wanted Jesus to utterly fail in the plan of the Almighty God. By making Jesus, the Son of God to worship him, he will be able to cement his grip over the world. But Jesus did not give way to the deceit of Satan, but brought him to knees by quoting the above scriptures. Satan lied and tried to give what the Heavenly Father would give Jesus according to the ultimate plan.
Overcome Temptations
The truth that Jesus quoted to Satan is for all to accept and implement in their respective lives. Truly, we shall worship and serve the Lord our God alone. No other idol shall take place of God in our lives. The Satan who subjected Jesus to temptations all throughout His wilderness period, persisted even after. And the same Satan and his associates also drags us into the same kind of temptations now. The Bible says that people are tempted and get enticed when they are dragged away by their own evil desires (James 1:14 NKJV). Moreover, as the following verse states, God is faithful and He will not let us be tempted beyond your ability.
‘No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.’
I Corinthians 10:13 NKJV
Therefore, do not get dragged away by the evil desires, but submit to the Lord in all things and resist the devil. As the above verse says, in every temptation, escape by the way the Lord provides.
In Jesus’ precious name alone be protected and saved. Amen.