The ministry of the Holy Spirit is a core theme in the two books written by Luke: Luke and Acts. It begins here in Luke 4. Luke sees a parallel in the effect of the Holy Spirit in Jesus’ life and in the life of the apostolic church. The Holy Spirit empowers God’s people to be victorious over temptation and therefore over the devil. As a result, we become witnesses to the liberating power of the Holy Spirit, which is the message of the text that Jesus reads out in the synagogue right after his victory over Satan in the desert (See 4:14-18). We should therefore allow these stories to shape our expectations of the Christian life, which is, first and foremost, a life in the Spirit. Like Jesus, and like the early church, we will be ‘tested’ so that our Spirit inspired resolve might be strengthened. The question is: Will we choose to live by our desires or will we live by the Spirit of God? Our culture is a veritable testing-desert of temptation. Never has the devil’s voice sounded louder than in our era of entitlement and hedonistic gratification. We are told to chase our dreams and pursue our desires in the same tones as Jesus was told to throw himself from the temple. The symbolism is rich. For when we throw ourselves down into a hedonistic pursuit of happiness we abandon the lofty heights of holiness to which the Spirit of God would lift us. Don’t fall into the miserable futility of chasing happiness. Walk in the Spirit of holiness and find joy.
Have you yielded to temptation? Ask God’s forgiveness and strength to walk in holiness and power.
Read Luke 4:1-13
