Ash Wednesday, First day of Lent

Today is the first day of Lent. We will spend the next 40 days remembering the days and events leading up to the crucifixion of Jesus Christ and His glorious resurrection!

It is also time to reflect on our sins and ways that we can atone for those sins. It is also a time of renewal. 
 
The reading I chose for today comes from Matthew 4:1-11:

The Temptation of Jesus

Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted there by the devil. For forty days and forty nights he fasted and became very hungry.

During that time the devil came and said to Him,“If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become loaves of bread.” But Jesus told him, “No! The Scriptures say, "People do not live by bread alone,

but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”

Then the devil took him to the holy city, Jerusalem, to the highest point of the Temple, and said, “If you are the Son of God, jump off! For the Scriptures say,‘He will order his angels to protect you. And they will hold you up with their hands so you won’t even hurt your foot on a stone.’”

Jesus responded, “The Scriptures also say, ‘You must not test the Lord your God.’”

Next the devil took him to the peak of a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. “I will give it all to you,” he said, “if you will kneel down and worship me.”

“Get out of here, Satan,” Jesus told him. “For the Scriptures say,‘You must worship the Lord your God and serve only him.’”

Then the devil went away, and angels came and took care of Jesus.

The world we live in today is filled with temptation and sin. It is all over the place. It is almost like Satan is sitting there saying "Come on! I dare you!" It goes all the way back to the beginning of time when the serpent told Eve to go ahead and eat the apple off the tree that God had told her specifically to avoid.

It is how we choose to respond to those temptations that make the difference. Sometimes, though, the more you tell someone they can't have something the more they want it. 

As a Christian we want to avoid temptation and sin. But, as much as we try, sometimes we fail. No matter how hard we try, it can happen to the best of us.

Satan tried so many different ways to get Jesus to give in to temptation and sin. But He stood steadfast. He knew what His Father expected of Him. He knew the things that Satan was daring Him to do were wrong. How difficult that must've been!

My husband is a drug addict. He had been clean for a little over 2 years. He is also an alcoholic. He had stopped drinking several months ago. However, recently he relapsed. He went on a three day drug binge using whatever money we had left in the bank.

This was not something he planned. He just woke up the other day and for whatever reason decided he needed to start using again. 

We go to church on a regular basis. We go to bible study every week. My husband has even begun working on a clothing room for our church. He had been working with our pastor on fixing up the church. As a matter of fact, our pastor was over the house days before this had happened. He had been working with my husband on getting his resume together.

We are human. We are going to fail. We are going to give in to temptation. And before you go and think this will never happen to you, it could. It may not be drugs or alcohol. It may be something else. Opportunity is all around us to sin and fall from grace.

But, we know that through steadfastness, prayer and leaving things in God's hands, we can withstand the times that we fail. I spent so much time praying, thinking, and bartering with God when my husband was gone. In the end I realized that there was nothing that I could do to change this. It was all in God's hands. 

My husband came home. Today he is 2 days clean and sober. Tomorrow he starts a rehab program. It took a lot for him to admit, this time, that he had a problem. Satan snuck in there and pulled my husband back down. So now, with love and support from me and our church, he's going to pull himself back up and start over.

It's only through the grace of Jesus Christ that he can be forgiven and given a new life in Christ. It's not going to be an easy journey. We're going to have some tough times. This a chance for us to grow as a couple and to grow in our faith together. 

Lord Jesus, we come to you as broken vessels for You to repair. We know that we can fail You and we often do. But it was through Your death and resurrection that You forgive our sins. You died so that we may have new life. We pray that when we do fall, we are able to humble ourselves before You and ask for Your forgiveness and grace. In Your Glorious Name we pray this. Amen.