Matthew 4:1 “Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.”
SPIRIT LED
Does it seem odd to you that Jesus was led up by the Spirit to be tempted? What? Why? Doesn’t that fly in the face of everything we have ever heard about God and the Holy Spirit? Well, you have to know what the word “tempted” really means. It can also mean test, as in a positive way.
Jesus wasn’t tempted toward evil. He was being tested, not for His benefit, but to show the devil that he had no power over the Son of God in human form. Satan probably thought this was his chance. Surely, the fleshly body of God would yield to the physical and emotional temptations. But nope, not this time and not any time. Jesus was above any test or temptation.
TEACHING MOMENT
As parents we have the responsibility to teach our children how to resist the temptations to do wrong. The older they get, the harder it gets. I am so thankful my kids are grown and that I didn’t have to grow up in this age. But God is still God. He still has the power over temptations.
As believers, your children have all the power necessary to yield to the Spirit of God rather than to the temptations of the world. If they aren’t believers or are not yielded, they have no ability to refrain from the evil influences. We have to be so diligent to teach them to surrender daily, moment by moment, to the Holy Spirit. They are virtually running on empty against the forces of evil without the Holy Spirit in their lives. But thanks be to God, that He is able to draw them and influence them toward heavenly things.
We are a part of that. We have to live our lives pointing our children heavenward. We have to guard our tongues and our actions so they see Jesus in us. We are helping the Lord to shape their spirits by the way we ourselves yield to Him daily.
A Moment In Time 