Who Do You Worship?

            A pastor friend of mine recently posted on face book the ages of his small children who were growing up much too fast!  Another person posted in reply to consider her own children who were in their 20’s and early 30’s!  If I were to add mine it would be from the mid-20’s to late 30’s!  I have grandchildren in their teens!  Where does the time go?  It seems as we get older time passes even more quickly!  

All that being said, my husband and I, along with the rest of our church family had the opportunity to have a relationship with a lady who just didn’t seem to be aged even though she was 104 years old.   This special lady had a way of lifting the heart of each person who visited her.  She has since left this earth and gone on to be with Jesus, but not before she shared her heart at one of our visits.

This wonderful 104 year old Christian lady shared a story with us in a visit not long before she passed on, that she shared with her Sunday school class nearly 70 years before.  She told of the spider who caught the fly and hard as the fly tried he could not escape the web.  Each time the fly would buzz in an effort to free himself, the spider would crawl down the web and inject a bit more poison into her prey until finally the fly died.  Our friend looked at my husband and me and asked, “Isn’t that just like Satan with our young folk?  He takes little bites and injects just enough poison to keep the young person captive, until at last he claims him as his own.”

            Her story sounds a bit like the story in Matthew 4 where Satan tries to entice Jesus to look past the will of the Father and inspect his immediate needs of food and thirst and then his future kingdom.  Satan promises what he cannot give because he wants Jesus to worship him.  Jesus sees through the deceit and soundly instructs Satan to leave him; that only God would receive his worship.

            Our young people are bombarded with unimaginable sins and temptations every day.  The truth is, however, we adults face temptations, as well.  It may be to tell a white lie, leave work a little early without letting anyone know, do personal things while at work including playing games on the computer or other technological device, take an item or two home with us that does not belong, use foul language in given situations and on and on.  We are as susceptible to Satan as our youth!  Those “little bits of poison” have a way of turning into full blown issues and sometimes into situations we never thought we’d find ourselves. 

            There’s an old adage of wisdom coming with age and I’d like to suggest it certainly should, but Satan is lurking in even the most unsuspecting situations.  He has a way of infiltrating every part of our daily life, and that can age you quickly!  We can make it through, however, if we keep our focus on Jesus like my friend who lived to be 104 years young!

Matthew 4:10 Jesus said to him, "Away from me, Satan! For it is written: 'Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.' "