Our strength
17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.
— James1:17 [ESV]
Idon’t think it is too exaggerated, or too hyperbolic, or that I am overstating anything by declaring that we are living in a time of ultimate temptation. Temptation itself has been around since Adam & Eve, of course, but I cannot recall a time period in history when there has been this much opportunity for such unfettered self-indulgence.
It is true that many of the pleasures we have at our disposal today are harmless enough, taken in moderation. Moderation, though, is becoming more and more subjective as the opportunities to fall to temptation continue to increase all around us. It has become such an issue today, in fact, that even so-called “harmless” pleasures can turn spiritually deadly when they are abused beyond reason.
In these words of St. James, we are given some insight into why Jesus himself was made to endure the most irresistible temptations that Satan had to offer. Impossible though it may have been for Jesus to fall to the enemy out there in the wilderness, James reminds us that there would be no reason for Jesus to fall in any case.
Why? Because nothing the enemy had to offer to Jesus compares, even remotely, to the good and perfect gifts from above. That is, nothing on earth made by man, no matter how enticing it is to God’s people in the moment, can hold a candle to the gifts of the Holy Spirit that we receive in this life, and that await us in the next.
Unlike Jesus, though, we cannot ward off temptation by relying on our own strength, but on God’s. God is our shield against the tempting sword of the enemy. God is always there to help us to resist temptation — if we want Him to, that is. He reminds us today, as we are reminded every time we engage Him through His Word and Sacrament, that He gave us the earth to discover, to use, and to enjoy, but to enjoy responsibly.
No matter how enticing the world’s offerings are to us, they will never compare to what comes to us from above. That is a message well worth contemplating over the next 40 days as we work our way through our Lenten disciplines, into Holy Week, and right up to the commemoration of our Lord’s Resurrection.
Blessings,