When Christ had fasted for 40 days Satan came to him tempting him. I'd like to focus on the first temptation. Turning the stone into bread. I will use parts of a talk given by Elder Jeffery R. Holland.
“If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread.”
"Whatever else Satan may do, he will certainly appeal to our appetites. Far better to play on natural, acknowledged needs than struggle to plant in us artificial ones. Here Jesus experiences the real and very understandable hunger for food by which he must sustain his mortal life. We would not deny anyone this relief, certainly we would not deny the Son of Man. Israel had its manna in the wilderness. This is Israel’s God. He has fasted for forty days and forty nights. Why not eat? He seems ready to break his fast, or surely must soon. Why not simply turn the stones to bread and eat?
The temptation is not in the eating. He has eaten before, he will soon eat again, he must eat for the rest of his mortal life. The temptation, at least the part I wish to focus on, is to do it this way, to get his bread—his physical satisfaction, relief for his human appetite—the easy way, by abuse of power and without a willingness to wait for the right time and the right way. It is the temptation to be the convenient Messiah. Why do things the hard way? Why walk to the shop—or bakery? Why travel all the way home? Why deny yourself satisfaction when with ever such a slight compromise you might enjoy this much-needed nourishment? But Christ will not ask selfishly for unearned bread. He will postpone gratification, indefinitely if necessary, rather than appease appetite—even ravenous appetite—with what is not his."
"A disciple of Christ must be willing to say, “Yes, but not this way.”
There are many things in this world to be tempted by, and yet if we do our best to follow Jesus Christ we will find ourselves saying, "yes, but not this way." By following Jesus Christ the best we can the temptations which do so easily beset us become something much easier. I know that if we live within the bounds the Lord has set we will be able to be truly happy. Not happiness for a second or for a day or two, but forever. The bread that Satan offers is "BOGUS BREAD". It's fake, it's lame, it's garbage, it's a load of bologna. Jesus Christ offers the real deal, and he offers it the way it's supposed. He offers freshly baked bread that is never ending. It will always be fresh, warm and constantly, and consistently coming out of the oven.
Sometimes as a missionary at the end of the day I am so tired and beat that we plan, fill out the area book, get ready for bed, and while waiting for my companion I lie on my bed. We have companion prayer and I lie down again...then I realize that I never said my personal prayer. I think about praying as I lie down..I have even started praying at times and thanking him for the day...Then I always get a voice saying...PROVE IT! Prove that you are thankful for the day by kneeling in prayer. It may be easier to not kneel because I am so tired. However, I get out of bed and kneel in prayer. I don't make it a short prayer so I can go to sleep. I do by best to talk to God. To thank him for all the thing he has given me.
The talk I pulled this from is called "The Inconvenient Messiah" It talks a lot about how life for Christ was not convenient, so why should it be convenient for us? It's not convenient for me to get out of bed when I am dead tired to pray, but I know that I am indebted to God forever. So why not make life inconvenient and Follow Jesus Christ. It may be inconvenient at times, but it's much less inconvenient than the consequences of sin. So follow Christ and be happy. That's my blog for the day. Loves.
