Lent Devotional - March 11, 2023

Hymn: “O Christ, You Walked the Road” (LSB #424, v. 5)
O Christ, You walked the road
Our wand’ring feet must go.
Stay with us through temptation’s hour
To fight our ancient foe.
 
Three temptations were faced by Christ our Lord in the wilderness. The temptation to bread, which was the temptation to use His power for His own pleasure. The temptation to jump, which was the temptation to put His Father to the test rather than trusting His Word of promise. The temptation to worship another, which was the easy road to the same desired goal. Three temptations which Christ our Lord faced because He knew that our wandering feet would face them too.

By ourselves, we are unable to fight our ancient foe. He is much craftier than we are. He is much more powerful than we are. He is a being of great spiritual power and we sometimes have trouble remembering where we placed our keys. In order for us to fight the ancient foe, Christ Jesus must fight him for us. We ask Him in this hymn stanza to stay with us and do the fighting with Satan, because we certainly cannot do so. When we face Satan, Christ Jesus is alongside to give us the victory.

Throughout your life, you will be tempted to care more for your own pleasure than you do for the Word of God. We do this when we think more about personal comfort and preferences than we do about God’s truth. When we let our head’s placement on the pillow take precedence over our rear’s placement in a pew, we fall into Satan’s temptation. When we spend Sunday mornings snowmobiling, scuba diving, or bowling rather than receiving God’s gifts in worship, we fall into Satan’s temptation. Thankfully, Christ our Lord stays with us in the hour of temptation. He does not abandon us to our own devices. He fights our ancient foe.

Throughout your life, you will be tempted to test the Lord rather than trusting His Word. Asking God questions about His activity is one thing. Doubting His presence with you is another entirely. We test God when we question God’s faithfulness during times of our own suffering. When life gets hard, we will be tempted by Satan to doubt that God is good, that He is faithful, that He is with us. These are all Satan’s temptations. Thankfully, Christ our Lord stays with us in the hour of temptation. He does not abandon us to our own devices. He fights our ancient foe.

Throughout your life, you will be tempted to take the easy road. Yesterday’s devotion gave multiple examples of how this takes place. Deep down in our hearts, because of our sinful condition, we are all lazy. Lots of us in rural central Wisconsin pride ourselves on our hard-working nature. However, the easy road is always appealing to a sinful nature that wants to do things in the simplest way possible. Unfortunately, the easy way is often the way that leads to destruction. Satan tempts us with ease because he wants to destroy us. Thankfully, Christ our Lord stays with us in the hour of temptation. He does not abandon us to our own devices. He fights our ancient foe.

Satan has been fighting with mankind since very shortly after the beginning. He tends to use the same strategies over and over. Twisting God’s Word. Denying God’s Word. Holding out the idea of something “better” than God’s Word. Thankfully, Christ our Lord helps us to see the deception and to overcome it by His blood. Stay with us, O Christ, and fight our ancient foe.