Your word is a lamp unto my feet and a light for my path.
Psalm 119:105
Our family is like all families: It is always
something.
Recently one of those times had come and gone
and in its wake, I was feeling peaceful and grateful to God for the victory.
Then these words came into my conscious mind: “Then the devil left him for an opportune time...” (Luke
3:14).
My first thought was, Yes, that is true. No
battle is ever over while we are on this earth. We have been given a victory,
so victory is possible, but don’t kid yourself that this situation has gone
away.
My second thought was, That line was from
the narrative of Jesus’ temptation in the wilderness. Why have I never heard a
sermon on that?
In the words of author and Bible teacher
Jennifer Kennedy Dean, “God doesn’t have throw-away lines.” I would go a step
further and say that some of the best take-aways come at the beginning or the
end of the New Testament narrative and the parables of Jesus. In other words, the
Bible both explains the point of the story and provides an application (potentially
saving a lot of preachers over the centuries a lot of sermon prep time).
Finally, my third thought was actually
several thoughts, as other examples of this pattern came to mind, thus leading
to my fourth thought, I bet I could write about this.
So here we are.
No comments:
Post a Comment