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Temptation

Matthew, Mark, and Luke each contain the account of Jesus being tempted in the wilderness by the devil. Satan told Jesus to turn stones into bread in order to feed Himself; he told Jesus to bow down to him; and he told Jesus to dive off of the temple and see if the angels would save Him.

Jesus responded to each temptation by quoting Scripture, saying, "It is written...Again, it is written...for it is written..." (Matthew 4:4, 7, 10)

The devil does not tempt us in those exact ways because we do not have the ability to turn stones to bread, and no guardian angels are waiting to catch us if we do a swan dive from a sky rise. He rarely tells people to bow down to him; there are very few devil worshippers. 

And yet those are the basic temptations he uses because they follow the same framework. He tempts us to turn stones into bread when he tries to get us to doubt that God will provide for our needs. He tempts us to bow to him when he tries to get us to live life for ourselves rather than for God. He tempts us to throw ourself down when he tries to get us to live as if there are no consequences for our actions. 

If we recognize his strategy we can be prepared to resist him. When we quote scripture back to him it not only drives him crazy, it reminds us of why choose to live in obedience instead of sin. We can follow the model of Jesus and rebuff the devil by saying "it is written." 

When the devil tries to tell you
That God will not do what He has said, 
That He will not take care of you--
He's telling you to turn stones to bread.

When the devil tries to tell you
That God doesn't care about your sin,
And if it feels good just do it--
He's telling you to bow down to him.

When the devil tries to tell you
Disaster will never come around,
God won't let that happen to you--
He's telling you to throw yourself down. 

We need to learn to recognize
All of these are just his timeless schemes;
Just respond with "it is written,"
And watch that old devil flee the scene. 
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