“You shall not put the Lord, your God, to the test.”

The story of the temptation of Jesus raises several questions. Why did the Spirit lead Jesus into the desert to be tempted by the devil?  Why did the devil temp Jesus to turn stones into bread and offer Him all the kingdoms of the world? Why take Jesus to the parapet of the temple in Jerusalem and tell Him to throw himself down so the angels could protect him from harm? Well, there is an endless supply of stones in the Holy Land. Jesus could have sold bread and become very rich. With great wealth and power over all of the kingdoms of the earth, Jesus could control the lives of everyone. If people saw Him jump off the parapet of the temple and land safely on the ground, they would have been so amazed He would control their mind and spirit. Jesus not only resisted the temptations of the devil, He taught us that we will not gain the Kingdom of God by unearned wealth, undeserved power, or trickery. We get to heaven by being all that God created us to be. Do we want to get to heaven?