When immediately after hearing “You are my Son, the Beloved” you are driven into the wilderness where Satan and the wild beasts hold sway the temptation is to doubt one’s “Beloved” status. Satan doesn't have to do much more than ask the question in the same way Satan asked the first humans, “Did God really say…?” The question sowed the seed of doubt in their minds and it was intended to do so in the mind of Beloved as well. The first humans gave way to doubt and denied the relationship with the One who walked with them in the garden of perfection. The Beloved denied doubt and believed the voice “You are my Son” so that it spoke louder than his hunger or the tempter’s deceit or the wild beasts in the wilderness. We are tempted in the same way when we find ourselves driven into the wilderness of circumstances beyond our control or the difficulties we design that are destructive. Doubting our “beloved” status leads us to live in ways that devalue self and others so that we buy the lie and lose the paradise of peace and joy and love. The good news is that Jesus abandoned paradise to live in the wilderness of our world so that when we believe "the kingdom of God has come near" we might repent and believe the Good News. We are loved.
No comments:
Post a Comment