The world lives with the expectation that we look out for ourselves first and foremost. This is more than just self-preservation and seeking to protect ourselves; we also want to make ourselves look good—and even better—in front of others. Glory belongs to God alone, but we are often tempted to make more of ourselves than we should. We find our greatest joy, though, when we point to God and not ourselves.
THE PASSAGE
Deuteronomy 6:10-15; Matthew 4:8-11
THE SETTINGS
Matthew 4:8-11 records the third temptation of Jesus. The devil took the Lord to a high mountain and showed Him all the world’s kingdoms, offering Jesus control in return for worship. The Deuteronomy passage contains Moses’s instructions for the people before they entered Canaan. The overwhelming goodness of the land could tempt them to forget the Lord, so Moses encouraged them to fear the Lord always and give Him proper worship.
THE POINT
The greatest joy comes from exalting God.
If you don’t toot your own horn, who will? We enjoy those moments when good things happen to us. We feel good when we’ve accomplished something. With those accomplishments and good experiences, we naturally want to tell others. Unfortunately, in the process of telling others, our words can easily turn into, “Look at me!” We don’t have to utter those exact words, but it can certainly come across as exalting ourselves. Personal social media pages are overrun with posts that make the person look really good. And the more “likes” a person gets for what he or she has said, the better this person feels. Self-exaltation is deceiving and fleeting. What happens when our next posting doesn’t get as many likes? We can feel defeated. Satan was trying to tempt Jesus to exalt Himself in a way that was not right. Jesus certainly deserves our praise and exaltation, but He would not seek it in a way that was outside His Father’s plan. As we consider this temptation before Jesus, we’ll discover the joy that comes with making much of God rather than ourselves.
