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Good morning. It’s not much of a coup for evil to grab
us where we’re weak. It’s too easy and not that important. The real
achievement for evil is the targeting and twisting of our strong points.
That’s more subtle and often goes unnoticed. When Jesus was in the
wilderness, the temptations came – and they really did come – towards
his strong points. He was compassionate for the hungry, - why not turn
these stones into bread? He was committed to God’s kingdom being
established - why not use worldly authority? He had great faith in God’s
power and miracles – why not throw himself down from the temple and
people see him survive? Maybe the strongest temptation for us, also, is
to do what appears to be good.
In the Lord’s prayer, we say: ‘Lead us not into temptation, but deliver
us from evil.’ Jesus may have been referring to what we usually
understand as temptation. But more probably, he was referring to the
great persecution and calamity that would come upon his followers near
the climax of history. This was foreshadowed in the cross.
How do we resist addictions? And today there are many forms of them. How
do we get freed from being dragged away from God’s wholeness by an
almost personal power of evil.
We can begin by using scripture as Jesus did, and by praying his prayer:
‘Our Father, lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil, for
the kingdom the power and the glory are yours, now and for ever. Amen.’
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