Satan’s Strategy for Your Life #15: When You’re Tired
“Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. And after fasting forty days and forty nights, He was hungry. And the tempter came and said to Him…”—Matthew 4:1-3
When are you tempted to sin? What time of the month? What day of the week? What time of the day? What are the factors that led you to sin? What was the temptation? Was it a television show? Movie? A website? A news article? Perhaps facebook? Twitter? Perhaps something at work? School? Was it an argument with your spouse? Your boss? Co-workers? For most of us, there are certain factors that lead us to sin, and we need to identify them so that we might know how to develop a defense against them. Or as G.I. Joe said, “Knowing is half the battle.”
Satan is not dumb. He has had thousands of years to develop an effective strategy that tempts us to sin. He knows how and when to attack us. It might be when we are alone, late at night, tired from a hard day of work or school.
He knows the best time when we are most susceptible to sin. He doesn’t strike when we are at our strongest, but when we are at our weakest. In our passage for today, Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil, but he didn’t tempt right away. Satan waited until Jesus had fasted forty days and forty nights and was hungry—then he pounced. Satan tempted Jesus when He was tired and hungry and when Satan believed that He was most vulnerable.
What about us? When are we most vulnerable? How can we guard ourselves from Satan’s tactics? Knowing how and when Satan comes to us will help us develop a proper defense against him so that we might avoid the sin that so easily entangles us and run the race of Christ more effectively.
May God give us strength, guidance, and awareness of Satan’s strategy for our lives so that we might avoid sin and walk in righteousness and joy in a way that is honoring to God. Amen.
When are you tempted to sin? What time of the month? What day of the week? What time of the day? What are the factors that led you to sin? What was the temptation? Was it a television show? Movie? A website? A news article? Perhaps facebook? Twitter? Perhaps something at work? School? Was it an argument with your spouse? Your boss? Co-workers? For most of us, there are certain factors that lead us to sin, and we need to identify them so that we might know how to develop a defense against them. Or as G.I. Joe said, “Knowing is half the battle.”
Satan is not dumb. He has had thousands of years to develop an effective strategy that tempts us to sin. He knows how and when to attack us. It might be when we are alone, late at night, tired from a hard day of work or school.
He knows the best time when we are most susceptible to sin. He doesn’t strike when we are at our strongest, but when we are at our weakest. In our passage for today, Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil, but he didn’t tempt right away. Satan waited until Jesus had fasted forty days and forty nights and was hungry—then he pounced. Satan tempted Jesus when He was tired and hungry and when Satan believed that He was most vulnerable.
What about us? When are we most vulnerable? How can we guard ourselves from Satan’s tactics? Knowing how and when Satan comes to us will help us develop a proper defense against him so that we might avoid the sin that so easily entangles us and run the race of Christ more effectively.
May God give us strength, guidance, and awareness of Satan’s strategy for our lives so that we might avoid sin and walk in righteousness and joy in a way that is honoring to God. Amen.
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