Matthew 4:10 Away from me, Satan! For it is written: "Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only."This morning, I climbed out of bed, made coffee, packed lunches for Steve and Michael, and did a little Bible study and prayer with Steve before he left for work. My normal routine is to then go immediately into my own quiet time of Bible study and worship (my faith blogs are part of that daily regimen.)
Today, I found myself sidetracked by some old photographs of a friend from my youth. Without a thought, I took the photos from their frames to scan them, and cleaned the glasses from each frame. I kept myself busy with this project for a good half hour before I realized what I was doing. I had to ask myself, why am I doing this now?
I can't say it was Satan drawing me away from my quiet time with God but I can say with absolute assurance, it makes the enemy happy any time we take our attention from Jesus and put it on things of this world.
As I cleaned those photographs I was reminded that this girl had once been my idol. She had befriended a lonely child and introduced me to a world of fun, laughter and trouble. She gave me great pleasure at a time when there was none in my life. Then I noticed that in the photos, she looked utterly miserable. There was a void in her soul that only God could fill. And for years, we allowed ourselves to be instruments of the devil.
Today, I have a friend in Jesus. Satan still tries to take my eyes off of my Lord. But I can say with confidence, (or should we say Godfidence?) "away from me Satan, Jesus the Word tells me to worship and serve only God!"
* Here I am to worship, here I am to bow down, here I am to say that You're my God! You're altogether lovely, altogether worthy, altogether wonderful to me! In Jesus I rest my case, amen.
* Here I am to Worship, lyrics by Tim Hughes
King of all days,
O so highly exalted;
Glorious in Heaven above.
Humbly You came
To the earth You created,
All for love's sake, became poor.
Here I am to worship,
Here I am to bow down,
Here I am to say that You're my God!
You're altogether lovely;
Altogether worthy;
Altogether wonderful to me.
And I'll never know,
How much it cost,
To see my sin,
Upon that cross,
No I'll never know,
How much it cost,
To see my sin
Upon that cross...
But here I am to worship...
