01/07/2026
Tried And Tested!!!
Jesus had been baptized and immediately after he had come out of the water and behold, the Heavens were open to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting upon Him. And suddenly a voice came from Heaven saying, " This is my beloved son, in whom I am well pleased."
There is one thing we should take note of before we speak of Jesus being tested. The meaning of the word "tested" is completely different from that of the word "tempted". The Greek word for temptation is "peirazein", which has a negative meaning. It means to entice someone into doing the wrong thing; to lower them into choosing a wrong path. Being tried and tested means to Test someone; not to Tempt them!!!
A great and encouraging truth lies in this: when we are tried, the purpose is not to lure us into sinning, but to help us conquer sin; not to make us a bad people, but to make us a better people. It is a test from God, because he wants to use us for his glory. We should therefore see this episode in Christ's life as a time when he was not Tempted, but Tested!!!
Furthermore, we must take note of where this took place. It happened in the wilderness, or desert. There is a strip of wilderness that lies between Jerusalem and the Dead Sea. It extends over an area of 30x15 mi. And that wilderness Jesus could be more alone than in any other place in Palestine. He went into the wilderness because he wanted to be alone. The time had come to carry out the task his father God had assigned him to do. God has spoken to him and now he needed to think about how he would carry out that task. It is possible that we keep doing the wrong thing because we are not alone often enough!!! We make many mistakes because we don't set aside enough time to be alone with the Lord!!! Think of it this way. Those who draw water from a wellspring of meditation know that God dwells close to their heart!!! Remember Jesus was led into the wilderness by the Spirit of God(To be tested) so that He could work in the Spirit( while being Tempted)!!!
So the next time you feel that you are in the wilderness think of this where you sent into the wilderness by the spirit to be Tested or by the devil to be Tempted!!!
Dear Lord,
I knew before you and thankfulness, knowing that you my heavenly Father would never lead me to a place that you were not there. For those who function in the Holy Spirit ( Tested) are uplifted in these moments when we are Tempted beyond what we bear. But knowing that you are with us we are reminded that we have the victory!!! Thank you for being an on time God!!! In the matchless mighty name of your son Jesus we pray.
Amen.
