Who do you worship and serve?

Then Jesus said to him, "Away with you, Satan! For it is written, 'You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only you shall serve.'" Matthew 4:10

Who do you worship and serve? We may profess to worship and serve the LORD God who made and redeemed us, but a simple test of how we use our time and talents may reveal otherwise.

If we are so busy with the things of this world that we have no time for God and His Word, no time for daily devotions and prayer, no time to join our fellow believers for Bible study and worship, then maybe the world and the things in this world (money, goods, house, business, success, etc.) have taken the place the LORD God should hold in our lives.

The Bible tells us: "Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world--the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life--is not of the Father but is of the world. And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever." (1 John 2:15-17).

When Jesus was tempted of the devil in the wilderness, the devil showed Jesus all the kingdoms of the world and all their glory and offered them to Jesus if He would only fall down and worship Satan (Matt. 4:8-9). What a temptation! Jesus had come into this world to set up and establish a kingdom, and now He was being offered all the kingdoms of the world!

Yet, Jesus did not come to establish or reign over an earthly kingdom. Rather, He came to establish a heavenly kingdom. He "gave Himself for our sins, that He might deliver us from this present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father" (Gal. 1:4). He suffered and died on the cross, bearing the punishment for our sins, that God might pardon and forgive us and grant us a place with Him in heaven.

Keeping in mind that He had come into this world to do the will of His heavenly Father and die for the sins of all mankind and that it would be wrong to worship or serve any other beside the LORD God, Jesus responded: "Away with you, Satan! For it is written, 'You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only you shall serve.'" What an example for those of us who trust in Him as Savior!

Dear Lord Jesus, through the study of the Scriptures, give us a knowledge of You and Your will and grant that we love and serve You alone and not give in to the many temptations of the devil, the world and our flesh. We ask this for the sake of Your holy life and innocent sufferings and death on the cross to redeem us. Amen.

[Devotion by Randy Moll. Scripture is taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.]