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The Temptation to Place Something Else Before God
Question 1:
Whom do you find it easy to brag about?
THE POINT
The greatest joy comes
from exalting God.
THE BIBLE MEETS LIFE
“If you don’t toot your own horn, who will?”
We enjoy those moments when good things happen to us. We feel good when we’ve accomplished something. With those accomplishments and good experiences, we naturally want to tell others. Unfortunately, in the process of telling others, our words can easily turn into, “LOOK AT ME!” We don’t have to utter those exact words, but it can certainly come across as exalting ourselves. Social media sites are overrun with posts that make the person look really good. And the more “likes” a person gets for what he or she has said, the better this person feels.
Self-exaltation is deceptive and fleeting. What happens when our next posting doesn’t get as many “likes”? We can feel defeated.
Jesus was tempted to exalt Himself in a way that was not right. Jesus certainly deserves our praise and exaltation, but He would not seek it in a way that was outside His Father’s plan. As we consider this temptation before Jesus, we’ll discover the joy that comes with making much of God rather than ourselves.
WHAT DOES THE BIBLE SAY?
Matthew 4:8-11
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.
One thing Christians can look forward to is living in the presence of Christ in His kingdom. This was prophesied and promised centuries before Christ came to earth.
Let’s keep this in mind as we look at the third attempt by Satan to tempt Jesus. Satan is tempting Jesus with something that has already been promised to Him! So where is the temptation in that? The temptation comes in that Jesus could take the kingdoms of the world now—without delay and without the road to the cross that lay before Him. Satan offered a shortcut: the rule and reign of a kingdom without having to suffer for it.
Satan does this with us. He offers us good things—even promised things—but he entices us to obtain them in sinful ways. We see something similar in Jesus’s parable of the lost son (Luke 15). The son had an inheritance waiting for him, but out of selfishness, he wanted his father to give it to him immediately.
We often equate idolatry with worshiping images made of wood or metal, but idolatry happens whenever we place anything ahead of God. We can even make good things idols, because when we take something good and place it ahead of God, that is desiring something more than God—and that is the definition of idolatry.
Question 2:
What are some things in our culture Satan tempts us to almost worship?
For Jesus to rule over all the kingdoms of the world is a good thing, but to pursue that over obedience to the Father is wrong. Jesus rejected that and responded by citing the truth found in Deuteronomy 6:13: “Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him.”
Satan is still very much in the business of idolatry today. His goal is to get us to worship anything other than God. He wants us to “bow down” to these things because he stands behind them. When we bow down to them, we bow down to the devil. Let’s consider just three good things God has given that get turned into objects of worship.
- Money. Money isn’t evil, but “the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil” (1 Tim. 6:10a). Satan uses our desire of money to entice us to bow down to him.
- Sex. Sex is a good gift from God, but God has designed a marriage between one man and one woman in a life-long covenant relationship to be the only place where sexual desire is to be satisfied. Satan loves to entice us to find sexual satisfaction outside of marriage.
- Authority. Authority is another good gift from God. He uses authorities to establish order in this world, but when we pursue power to domineer over others and sacrifice their well-being for our own selfish gains, we have taken a good gift and made it a god.
Jesus’s response to such temptation should be ours as well: “Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him.”
Deuteronomy 6:10-12
10 “When the Lord your God brings you into the land he swore to your ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob that he would give you — a land with large and beautiful cities that you did not build, 11 houses full of every good thing that you did not fill them with, cisterns that you did not dig, and vineyards and olive groves that you did not plant — and when you eat and are satisfied, 12 be careful not to forget the Lord who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the place of slavery.”
In the words of John Calvin, our hearts are idol factories.1 We are continually tempted to make idols, and this was Israel’s ongoing problem. So, God warned them that when they entered the land and found all the blessings that He promised, they were to “be careful not to forget the Lord who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the place of slavery” (v. 12).
This is also our temptation. We tend to forget God when life is good. And when crisis hits, we tend to turn somewhere else before going to God. Yet, if we will remember that God is the source of all good things, we could avoid the temptation to look to other things for the satisfaction only He truly provides.
For the Israelites, God was about to pour into their lives a host of good things: land, cities, houses, cisterns, vineyards, and olive groves. The people had a role to play; they were to take back the land that God had first given to their forefathers: Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
This pattern of conquest allowed God’s people to enter the promised land and be provided with ready-made facilities—cities, gardens, and homes—in which to live and work. However, when all these good things were theirs, they would face the danger of resting in these things and losing their reliance and dependence upon the One who provided them.
Adversity doesn’t threaten our walk with Christ quite like prosperity does. When we get comfortable, we let our guard down. We are lethargic. We gradually replace a reliance on God with a reliance on ourselves and what God has provided.
The way to avoid this slippery slope is to do as Moses called the people to do: Remember! Moses reminded the people who God is: He is the Lord who established a covenant with them. He is the One who brought them out of slavery and into freedom. The people were never to forget this. We too must remember all God has done for us in Christ and all He has provided for our enjoyment and contentment.
Question 3:
What does it look like to be thankful in our everyday lives?
Deuteronomy 6:13-15
13 “Fear the Lord your God, worship him, and take your oaths in his name. 14 Do not follow other gods, the gods of the peoples around you, 15 for the Lord your God, who is among you, is a jealous God. Otherwise, the Lord your God will become angry with you and obliterate you from the face of the earth.”
Jealousy is certainly a bad thing when it reflects an envy of others. But jealousy is also a virtue when it’s a sense of protection over something that is rightfully ours. Jealousy can be a righteous response. When Moses described God as a jealous God, he was describing God’s feeling for His people, those who have entered into a relationship with Him.
Even as jealousy is a righteous response when someone is stealing another person’s spouse, God is jealous over those who are His. Marriage is one of the major images the Bible uses for God’s relationship with His people. And in that marriage, God is the always-faithful, never-failing, all-satisfying husband. By contrast, we can often be the disobedient, unfaithful bride. Because we are His bride, God is jealous for us. That’s a good thing! While we are continually tempted to turn away from God to pursue other “lovers,” He will pursue us. He will not let us go because we are His.
Question 4:
What can we learn from today’s passages about facing temptation?
Another way to understand temptation and sin, then, is as turning away from God to find satisfaction in something or someone else. When we turn away from God to find satisfaction and joy elsewhere, the Bible calls us “adulterous people” (Jas. 4:4). This was the temptation Israel would face as they entered the promised land; they would be tempted to chase after the things of the world, the things the pagan nations chased. To avoid this, the people were exhorted to do three things: fear God, worship God, and take oaths in God’s name only.
When we live as God calls us to live, we experience our greatest joy. Satisfaction never comes from pursuing other things we think might satisfy us. We can say no to the temptation to bow before the things Satan and the world throws at us as we remember this singular truth: A life spent in worship and exaltation of the One who loves us deeply will always lead to satisfaction.
Question 5:
How can our group help one another put God first?
Engage
TRUE WORSHIP
Our worship is seen in the way we place God above everything else. Using the word “worship” as an acrostic, identify ways we can show that we have placed God above all else (an example is provided).
W
O
R
S
H
I
Prioritize God above all else
“Every one of us is, even from his mother’s womb, a master craftsman of idols.”
JOHN CALVIN
LIVE IT OUT
The greatest joy comes from exalting God. Choose one of the following applications:
Expose your idols. Consider where you turn when life becomes difficult. Where do you look for satisfaction and joy? Identify those as idols and turn from trusting them. Choose to place your trust solely on God.
Give thanks. Write a prayer to God, thanking Him for all the ways He has worked in your life. Be specific about what He has done for you.
Meet together. Meet with one or two other believers of the same gender and talk openly about those areas where you might be tempted to look to someone or something other than God. Agree to stand together and support one another in making God the sole object of your devotion and worship.
Temptations to exalt ourselves are all around us. Our flesh doesn’t need much nudging in that direction. But lifting up ourselves is contrary to our growth as followers of Jesus. Let’s confess that as sin and exalt God instead.
