I have am licensed by the state to work in the profession in which I am trained. It used to be that news programs would have reports of people who bought fake degrees or licenses, then they would set up a business based on this fraud. The internet has made verifying the training and licensing much easier. You can see credentials in real time. These earlier individuals would make a great deal of money without the years of schooling and the tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars required to complete the proper training. They were taking a massive shortcut. A shortcut that put many in danger do to their inability to complete the tasks required in the discipline they were fraudulently practicing.
Matthew 4:1-11 (CSB)
1 Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. 2 After he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. 3 Then the tempter approached him and said, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.”
4 He answered, “It is written: Man must not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.”
5 Then the devil took him to the holy city, had him stand on the pinnacle of the temple, 6 and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down. For it is written:
He will give his angels orders concerning you,
and they will support you with their hands
so that you will not strike
your foot against a stone.
7 Jesus told him, “It is also written: Do not test the Lord your God.”
8 Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. 9 And he said to him, “I will give you all these things if you will fall down and worship me.”
10 Then Jesus told him, “Go away, Satan! For it is written: Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him.”
11 Then the devil left him, and angels came and began to serve him.
I have always found this temptation to be interesting. Satan offers Jesus all the kingdoms of the world. The thing is…..Jesus is God and has all the kingdoms of the world. Satan is offering Him something He already has. If this is true, what is going on? Jesus will rule and reign. But first, He had to go to the cross. Satan is offering Him a way around the cross. He can avoid the cross if He will bow down an worship Satan.
How many times does this happen to us? Satan is whispering in our ear. He is dangling all the things we want in front of our eyes. He wants us to chase these things. Satan’s goal is to dissuade us from worshipping God and to follow him instead. We think that we need all these things and the only way to obtain them is to take the shortcut offered to us.
But, we are to do what Jesus did. We are to worship God alone. Things will come to us. Not all things will come to us, but God will be with us. I am beginning to understand that God usually does not take us around all the hardships we face. He does take us through, however. The pain and suffering of this life are part of what it means to live. We can either constantly try to circumvent life, or we can draw near to God, worship Him alone, and be transformed into His image. This is the example set forth by Jesus when Satan offered Him an easier road to the destination set before Him. This is the transformation I am seeking.