Bible
Study: Deuteronomy 26, 4 to 10. Romans
10, 8 to 13 and Luke 4, 1 to 13).
Lent is a
period of 40 days during which we follow the steps of Christ who, spent 40 days
in the wilderness preparing for his public ministry. Even as our first reading
this morning indicates, the 40 days of lent also calls to mind the 40 year
experience of the Israelites in their journey from the land of captivity to the
Promised Land. It was an experience they were to constantly call to mind by
dedicating the first fruit of the land to God. The whole essence of lent is for
us to also journey from the horrendous captivity of sin to freedom as God’s
children. As such, if after this period, our lives are still dominated by sin,
it means that we have failed to make the best of lent.
Every sin
begins with temptation. In other for us to overcome sin, we must know how to
deal with temptation, hence this first Sunday of Lent, we read about how Jesus
succeeded in defeating Satan by overcoming his temptations in the wilderness. In
these three temptations, we find a candid summary of all the temptations that
we also face as human beings. They are according to St. John: “…the lust of the
flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life….” 1 John 2, 16.
The lust
of the flesh corresponds to the first temptation of Jesus of turning stones to
bread. This is the temptation we face when our bodies begin to crave for carnal
satisfaction in terms of food, warmth, beauty or pleasure. Although we have a
natural and legitimate instinct for these desires, Jesus says: “Man shall not
live by bread alone but every word that comes from God.” This means that the
essence of life is not simply to satisfy our bodily desires lest we become no
different from the animals in the field. The key to overcoming the lust of the
flesh is FASTING. By consciously depriving the body of its cravings, we subdue
its power over us.
As St.
Paul teaches us in Galatians 5, 19 to 21: “Now the works of the flesh are
plain: fornication, impurity, licentiousness, idolatry, sorcery, enmity,
strife, jealousy, anger, selfishness, dissension, party spirit, envy, drunkenness, carousing, and the like. I
warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things shall not
inherit the kingdom of God.” These things characterise our lives when we simply
grant the desires of the flesh without restriction. Going Further, St. Paul
says: “Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its
passions and desires.” Galatians 5, 24. We cannot serve two masters! We are either
ruled by the flesh or controlled by the spirit.
The second
temptation is the lust of the eyes! Satan showed Jesus all the kingdoms of the
world, the beautiful things that life has to offer and said they would be his
in exchange for his worship. This temptation is what we face daily in our insatiable
quest for material possessions. We are ready to do anything to get rich so we
do not mind worshipping Satan by disobeying God’s commandments. We steal, we
kill, we tell great lies, we falsify figures, we prostitute our bodies… in
short we do all manner of evils for money. Jesus said to Satan, “You shall
worship the Lord your God, and him only shall you serve.”
Worshipping
God demands that we love others by putting ourselves in their shoes especially the
poor. Think of the fact that 80% of the world’s wealth are in the hands of 20%
of the world’s population. Worshipping God demands that we let go not just of
what we have but the very desire to own things. Hence, the cure for this
temptation is ALMSGIVING. By giving to others, we lose the security money tends
to offer us and we make God himself our ultimate security.
The third
temptation is the pride of life. Satan took Jesus to the pinnacle of the temple
and ordered him to throw himself down JUST SO THAT PEOPLE MAY SEE. Satan even
quotes the Bible to assure Jesus that God will send Angels to protect him if he
jumps. Again, this is our basic temptation, to make ourselves gods in the eyes
of others. We want people to praise us, revere us and even worship us instead
of God. We go to any extent to acquire power be it, political power to rule,
demonic power to control people, or even occult power to perform magic and so
on. Hear what Jesus says to Satan: “You shall not tempt the Lord your God.”
We tempt
God whenever we try to be like him or replace him in our lives. Adam and Eve
fell for this temptation because Satan said, the fruit will open their eyes and
make them like God. We fall for this temptation each time, we become proud,
each time we rebel against God’s authority and superiority over our lives, each
time we refuse to humble ourselves in prayer! Hence the cure for this temptation
is PRAYER. True prayer brings us to our kneels, it is self-humiliation, it is
the ability to recognise our nothingness before God. As St. Paul instructs teaches
us in the second reading, prayer demands that we confess with our lips and
believe with our heart.
We must
bear in mind that prayer is never a matter of giving God instructions or
sending him on errand. When we do so, we are not really praying but simply
telling God we are greater than he is. Hence, we should not be surprised when
such prayers are not heard!
In conclusion,
therefore, we can see that with prayer, fasting and almsgiving, we empower
ourselves against any form of temptation Satan may throw at us and by so doing,
we would finally gain our Freedom from the Captivity of Sin. However, when we
pray, fast and give alms, we must do so in the right spirit otherwise they
become mere external show of religiosity and self-aggrandizement.
Let us
Pray:
Lord
Jesus, may this Lenten journey rid me of all my sins. Amen.
God bless you. Good morning. Be Happy. Live Positive. Have Faith. It is
well with you. Happy Weekend.
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