Discipleship Devotional, January 29th, 2025
“If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down. For it is written: ‘He will command his angels concerning you, and they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’” Jesus answered him, “It is also written: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’”
– Matthew 4:6-7 (NIV)
I had read this temptation of Jesus so many times since I was a child, but one day I asked myself, “In what ways am I tempting God?” Satan told Jesus to jump down and went on to quote a scripture to back it up. You see, when we make foolish decisions deliberately, hoping that God will come through, we are tempting God. When we waste resources, telling ourselves that God will come through, we are tempting God. Of course, when we deliberately heed the counsel of the devil, hoping that God will later come through, we are tempting God. When we yield to the voice of the devil, hoping for God to come through, we are walking in foolishness.
Now, all this does not mean that God may not come through at last. When we are still babies in Christ, I have learned that God could show mercy to us in such situations. But as time goes on, we ought to become wise. We ought to grow up. Paul said when he was a child, he behaved like a child, but when he grew, he had to put away childish things. This is the way God deals with us.
If we continue to get away with tempting God, we will become spoiled. So sometimes, God would allow us to face the consequences of our foolishness—just so we will learn. Sometimes, tempting God may be fatal for whoever does it because the consequence may not be something that can be reversed.
For example, we have heard of people who deliberately went into a lion’s den, wanting to prove that they were something great, and they were killed by the lions. They didn’t have to tempt God. They were not thrown into the den like Daniel was for his faith. They simply and foolishly tempted God because they wanted to make a name for themselves—and they died for it. May none of us walk in such foolishness in Jesus’ name.
Prayer:
Thank you, Father, for the wisdom in today’s devotional. Help me not to tempt You but to walk in wisdom.
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