Concerning shortcuts
Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led around by the Spirit in the wilderness for forty days, being tempted by the devil. And He ate nothing during those days, and when they had ended, He became hungry. Luke 4:1-2
Most of you are very familiar with the fourth chapters of both Matthew and Luke which deal with Jesus’ forty-day fast and the three infamous temptations that Satan attempted to use to lure Him off-course.
This time as I was reading Luke 4, I was struck by one glaring element underlying each temptation: The devil’s lure of shortcuts.
In other words, with each temptation, Jesus was presented with a shortcut that would enable Him to avoid any of the discomfort or suffering He’d invariably face doing things “old school”—God’s way
Shortcut # 1: Using your gifting from God to meet your own needs
And the devil said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread.” Luke 4:3
God has endowed every member in the body of Christ with various gifts. These gifts are meant to be others-oriented, not self-oriented. Peter explained it this way: “God has given each of you a gift from his great variety of spiritual gifts. Use them well to serve one another” (1 Peter 4:10, NLT).
When someone uses their spiritual gift to meet their own need—whether that need is material, physical, social, or promotional—they are using a shortcut. Jesus countered the devil’s enticement by insisting on doing things God’s way: Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God (Matthew 4:4).
In other words, our giftings are given as a means to meet someone else’s need; the method Jesus specified for meeting our own need is faith in God and His Word.
This shortcut is brilliantly diabolical. The believer is tempted: Instead of employing the gifts God specifically deposited in them to help others, those very gifts are now used to gain ground, goods, or glory for themselves. Rather than waiting on God to bring their desire to pass in His way and timing, they attempt to manipulate the gift of God in them for their own end. In essence, this believer has become his/her own god: My gift to benefit me—not God’s gift to help someone else. And look who ends up getting the glory. Good ol’ self.
But doesn’t the Scripture say, “A man’s gift makes room for him and brings him before great men” (Proverbs 18:16)?
Indeed it does; but as in Jesus’ case with His hunger, using a spiritual gift for the purpose of meeting your own needs or promoting yourself lands you squarely in the temptation zone. Yes, let the gift make room for you; but don’t use the gift to promote yourself. The difference may be subtle, but guarding the purity of both the process and the outcome makes avoiding this shortcut very worthwhile.
Shortcut # 2: Worshipping anyone other than God to attain your goal more quickly
And he led Him up and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. And the devil said to Him, “I will give You all this domain and its glory; for it has been handed over to me, and I give it to whomever I wish. Therefore if You worship before me, it shall all be Yours.” Luke 4:5-7
What a shortcut! Jesus knew that Adam and Eve had forfeited humanity’s authority over the earth to Satan. He knew that the kingdoms of the world were in the devil’s hands; He also knew that the devil could hand them off to the Son of God….at a horrible, wretchedly steep price.
How many have flung aside their values, their better judgment, or their conscience to embrace a shortcut they assumed would guarantee them their hearts’ desire? A little compromise here, a little cutting corners there—what does it matter if I get what I want?
Sadly, a willingness to take shortcuts to accomplish a goal doesn’t stop on the secular front. So often Christians find themselves taking unwise shortcuts to achieve a “greater” purpose. Does the end justify the means?
According to Jesus, emphatically, NO. Despite the very tempting prospect of a cross-free (and therefore, pain-free) attainment of global Lordship by simply bowing down to Satan, Jesus declared, “NO SHORTCUTS, DEVIL. You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only shall you serve (Luke 4:9, my paraphrase).
Shortcut # 3: Using your gifting to prove your power
And he led Him to Jerusalem and had Him stand on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down from here.” Luke 4:9
It seems that people have always been fascinated by the miraculous power of God, and the devil was no exception. However, his motive was neither curiosity nor thrill-seeking. This temptation was meant to lure Jesus into a compromising, potentially suicidal decision by jumping into the air high above Jerusalem, and in doing so, granting Satan equal footing with the Son of God. You see, had Satan been able to goad the Lord into using His gift to prove His power, then Satan would have walked away with the upper hand.
Jesus understood the devil’s motives, however; therefore, when Satan said, “Jump,” the Lord refused to ask “How high?” On the contrary, in no uncertain terms would He stoop to submit Himself to the enemy of those He came to save in a shallow attempt to prove “two can play that game.”
No, the Lord remained Lord; He called out the devil in the most effective way possible, declaring, “It is said: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test’” (Luke 4:12, NIV).
And you? Don’t allow yourself to be lured into a “prove it” showdown with the devil or with those who seek to box your faith in. Remember, the gifts and power of God operating in your life are for the purpose of helping others—not to prove how powerful you are.
And hold fast to this truth: God is quite capable of showing up supernaturally to deal with people if you will leave off with the theatrics. When God does His thing, it’s on His terms without one bit of preening or posturing needed from you. Best of all, when God comes on the scene, no doubt will remain in anyone’s mind as to Who showed up.
Most temptations for Christians involve some kind of shortcut or another to achieve a desired end. Think about this when stepping out in new directions; and then ask God to expose every snare masquerading as a shortcut that pops up across your path.
And don’t forget your best comeback: “IT IS WRITTEN.”
Dorothy
© 2017, Dorothy Frick