“I said in my heart with regard to the
children of man that God is testing them that they may see that they themselves
are but beasts.” But we are created in
the image of God, how can Solomon say such things? We are more than the beasts,
we have a unique dignity, we have dominion over the beasts. The truth is that we share the same fate,
dust to dust. We compromised our
dominion when we listened to the serpent’s wisdom. We changed the image of God into a more
beast-like reality when we chose to live by our appetites rather than the word
of God. Satan’s first temptation to
Jesus is similar to the temptation in the garden, what could be wrong with
gratifying your desire to eat, you were made to eat and you, Jesus, are
uniquely qualified to satisfy your own desires.
We are called to live at a higher level, the level of obedience not to
our desires but to God’s will. If we
fail to live at that level we are indeed like the beasts of the field.
Here, as opposed to the temptation by satan, Jesus chooses
to provide food. In this case, the
people have sought Him out even though He is being rejected, first by the
people in Nazareth and then by Herod.
They are seeking the kingdom of God and He is revealing Himself by
healing the sick. They now need
sustenance and although they have not asked for Him to do anything, He has
compassion on them. They have not acted
like the people in the wilderness for example, clamoring for Him to feed them,
they have come to see Him and to receive more than physical gratification from
Him. They are seeking the kingdom therefore
He provides for their bodily needs.
So are we living by faith or something else? Living by faith calls us to a life of great
risk and adventure, trusting Him in all things.
Faith requires us to listen to and for one voice only and frequently
keeps us out of step with the world and what it would have us do and be. Living by faith means the herd mentality
isn’t our way of doing things, it calls us out, marks us as individuals. That is the positive spin on a life of faith,
it also means that people will see us as different, odd, and look askance at
our life choices. The world wants
conformity to some standard, there are few true individualists in the world,
marching to the beat of a different drummer.
Jesus was one because He lived and moved and had His being entirely in
the Father. We are called to that life
as well.
God of grace and God
of glory,
On Thy people pour Thy power.
Crown Thine ancient church’s story,
Bring her bud to glorious flower.
Grant us wisdom, grant us courage,
For the facing of this hour,
For the facing of this hour.
On Thy people pour Thy power.
Crown Thine ancient church’s story,
Bring her bud to glorious flower.
Grant us wisdom, grant us courage,
For the facing of this hour,
For the facing of this hour.
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