Off Track

Thursday, November 27th, 2025

8:51 am

Good morning and Happy Thanksgiving! This morning I am in Luke 4:1-13. Jesus was led into the wilderness by the Holy Spirit and the devil tempted Him there. It is parallel to Matthew 4:1-11 and Mark 1:12-13. We saw how the devil tempted Jesus in the wilderness in Matthew, and it is the same here, just some different wording, but still the same. The devil tried to tempt Jesus to get Him off track of what He came to earth for. Because Jesus is fully human and fully God, I say is because He is still alive today, praise the Lord! Jesus knew what His mission on earth was, but being human He had the same temptations we deal with today. Because He was tempted by the same things we deal with today, He understands what we are going through and He helps us. But because His mission on earth was to save us from our sins, He had to be tempted in the same way we are, in doing so He was able to take all the sin onto Himself, to cover everyone who would ever live. It is hard to comprehend, but that is what He came to earth for, and the enemy knew that. So the enemy tried to tempt Him to get Him off that path.

Just like the enemy tried to get Jesus off the track that God had Him on, so the enemy tried to get us off track. He tempts us with everything, the same as He did Jesus. He wants to get us off the reason why God created us. We each have a divine purpose from God, and the enemy will do whatever he can to get us off that track. Tempting us with the things and cares of this world. But here is the thing, with Jesus, we can overcome whatever the enemy tries to tempt us with.

These temptations that he throws at us can be big or small. Many times the small temptations are what trip us up without even realizing it. Such as, you are trying to do the best you can to provide for your family, and the enemy sees that you may be living from paycheck to paycheck, feeling like you can't get ahead, so the enemy will use your job as a temptation. Your employer may offer you lots of overtime, so much so that you don't feel like you don't have time to get into God's Word, go to church, or even spend time with the family the Lord has given you to steward. In an instance like this, you have made money or your job, an idol in your life because you put those things before God. That is just one instance, trust me there are plenty others. But I give that example because you can see how subtle that temptation is. The enemy will tell you, you have to work more to provide for your family. But here is the key to that, Jesus.

You can resist that temptation by crying out to God to help you, because God is our provider. He is the one that gives us everything that we need, so He is the one that will take care of you. That does not mean we can be lazy and not work, but we rely on God to give us the strength we need to work but not allow us to put work first. When we put God first in our lives, He will take care of us and give us all that we need. Now, that does not mean life will be easy. It does not mean that the enemy will stop trying to tempt you, but it does mean that God will help us resist the enemy when he comes and attacks us.

What is the enemy tempting you with today? It being thanksgiving, one of the ways today could be food, and over eating. That will be a hard one today for most people. But if you are someone that feels God is wanting you to take better care of the body He has blessed you with, it will be a big temptation to stuff yourself so much that you can't even move. Maybe have to put on some stretch pants. That is a challenge for me too. Our temptations are different to each one of us. Everyday we have to make the decision to follow God, or to give in to what the enemy is throwing at us. We have to make the conscious decision to stay on the path the Lord has us on.

Give God a little of your time today so He can equip you with His Word, which just like Jesus, is how we overcome the enemies temptations. Give Him that space, so He can help you today with whatever the enemy is tempting you with, so you don't get off track of the purpose God has for you.

Have a blessed Thanksgiving!