Mon., 6/24/19 Devotion (Matt. 4:1)

Today's encouragement comes from Matthew 4:1, which says this:

"Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil."

Who would have thought that the blessed and gentle Holy Spirit of God would lead the pristine Son of God into a wilderness, to be tempted by the crass and carnal devil? We tend to have these notions, that our Triune God would never do something like this—that it is somehow out of character (for Him).

But all this is because we do not yet fully understand the ways of God. He sometimes leads His own churchmen into situations where in fact we will be tempted to sin; all the while, at the same time, commanding us—as in the Lord's Prayer—to ask not to be led "into temptation." Are we going through temptation today? Let us recognize that Jesus faced it, too. We should pray for God to deliver us in the grace of Christ's redemption of us.

[Puritan quote of the day: "It is by faith that we have a title to eternal life be-cause it is by faith that we have the Son of God by whom life is.” —Jonathan Edwards, in, "Justification by Faith Alone"]