What Will You Choose?
A man sits home on his computer late at night. Still answering emails, still completing tasks. All his responsibilities—work, family, home—weigh heavily upon his shoulders. Then, an image pops up on his computer, offering a temporary escape, a getaway from his stress.
What will he choose?
The next door down on this same busy street sits a woman—alone, empty, cynical. She wants a husband; one who will love her, prayer for her, and point her to Jesus. But so far there have been no takers, and the prospects around her seem limited. Her friend mentioned there’s this guy she knows, he’s not a Christian, but he’s kind, and has good morals.
What will she choose?
One door down from her is a woman and a man engaged to be married. Rings have been purchased, the date has been set, wedding invites have been accounted for; the only thing left to do it wait. But, right now, the roommates are gone for the weekend, and they’re alone.
What will they choose?
On-and-on down this busy street reveals particular situations, which provoke particular questions, many of which, when boiled down, come to this: “How much do I value my obedience to God?”
Jesus
Moving further down this street—much further in fact—all the way across the country, all the way across the Atlantic Ocean, and back in time by about 2,000 years, there is a man. He’s not at home. He is in a desert. He’s hungry, and he’s tired because he’s been fasting in a desert for 40-days.
Satan appears to this man, saying, “You have a decision to make. Let me offer my suggestion: Go! Turn these rocks into bread, throw yourself from the temple and let the angels bear you up, bow to me and all this suffering will be over like that!”
What would he choose?
Jesus lived on this same street as you and I. Jesus sat in these spaces as you and I. Hebrews says, “We do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses but one who was tempted in every way, yet without sin.”
Jesus chose obedience — God-honoring, stubborn obedience.
Will you be stubborn in your obedience?
What is going on in your life right now that is begging you to give in?
What situation is pulling so much from you that you are just craving an escape?
When are you hearing Satan’s words, “I know what you desire, I’ll give it to you, if you bow to me?”
You can be obedient.
Hebrews 2:18 promises, “For because he himself has suffered when tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.”
One of the easiest ways Satan can convince you to fall into sin is to first make you believe that you cannot help but do otherwise. Don’t buy it! It’s garbage.
You can stand in obedience, so long as you cling to the one who stood first, Jesus. The one who not only stood in obedience for you, but hung on a cross in payment for you.