Saturday after Theophany; Our Venerable Father Theodosius, Founder of the Cenoebitic Monastic Life (529)
Read
Ephesians 6:10-17; 2 Corinthians 4:6-15
Matthew 4:1-11; Matthew 11:27-30
Christ is born! Glorify Him!
Have you ever noticed that just as Israel wandered for forty years in the desert being tested on the Lord’s commands before entering the Promised Land, our Lord was in the desert for forty days and was tested on His own commands by Satan? The temptations and His answers astound Satan and serve as an example for us, His disciples when we encounter temptations in our daily life. The three temptations can be ordered as such: (1) replacing God’s will; (2) bending or influencing God’s will; (3) replacing God. Let’s look at the first temptation.
Our hearts are made to do God’s will. We are created in His image and likeness after all! Nothing else to capture our hearts except the Lord and His plan for us to be like Him in all ways by grace. Passions and desires are constantly knocking on the door of our hearts. We are to ignore these distractions. God’s Word, that is, what He has revealed and taught us, contained in Scripture and the Teaching of the Church, will keep us on the straight and narrow. His Word becomes our daily manna (bread).