YOU SHALL WORSHIP THE LORD YOUR GOD AND HIM ALONE SHALL YOU SERVE
There are two important words that Jesus used in the gospel. “Worship” and “serve” God alone. To worship is to offer honor and reverence to something. To serve is to be devoted to something and perform a duty for it. One’s heart is integrated with what one worships and serve. Do you worship and serve God everyday in your life? Why did Jesus tell the devil that only God shall he worship and serve? The devil falsely claimed to be God by claiming that the whole world belong to him and he tried to make Jesus believe that the most important things in life are power and material possessions. There are people who think that power and possessions are the most important things in life and pursue them by all means. Jesus teaches us that the most important thing in life is our relationship with God. Some people worship the devil just for power and possessions. To worship and serve God is to surrender all our cares to God, surrender our priorities, plans, hopes, dreams and, even our fears to God. The period of Lent is the time we renew our love and respect in total surrender to the power and will of God. It is a period we are called to have a deeper relationship with God. Allowing God to use us for greater good. Allowing God to guide us in our daily decisions and choices. This is a period we show greater love to our family and to those around us. Grace is given to us through fasting, prayer and almsgiving. It is a forty days journey through self-discipline. When we sincerely resist certain things and give up certain things. Some people freely fast from social media, TV, or even from gossip. Some people take up extra good works to gain grace and blessings. Some make it a duty not to miss any weekday or weekend mass or any church activities. The readings teaches us that disobedience to God leads to sin and death but obedience to God leads to peace and righteousness. Adam and Eve’s disobedience brought trouble. Jesus’ obedience brought grace and righteousness. Eve gave herself up to dialogue with the devil and she was deceived. Jesus did not give the devil time for dialogue. He told the devil to go away. When you give the devil time in your heart and dialogue with him you could fall. You resist him by telling him to go away. The devil can easily make bad look good and make good look bad. He can turn people’s interest and desire into their downfall. The story of the temptation and the fall is a very interesting story. It is one of the stories in the Bible that many people knew by heart. But what makes it more interesting is that people still fall to the same temptation. Why is it still happening? Human desire and interest can be exploited. Eve’s interest and desire was exploited by the devil. Eve saw that the tree was good for food, pleasing to the eyes and desirable for the wisdom it can give. Her mind was clouded by her desire and could not think about the negative consequences of her action. Some people think only about the happiness their interest and desire can give but never think about the consequences. The Consequences could be more painful than the temporal happiness. As their eyes opened, they realized the consequences and tried to hide. Some people try to hide or cover up their wrong actions as soon as they realized the consequences. Your action can affect not only you but those around you just as the action of Adam and Even affected their future generations. Jesus teaches us that the way to resist the devil is by fasting, prayer and closeness to God. As we embark on the forty days journey with Jesus may God give us the grace to resist the devil so as to rise with Jesus on Easter.