“Bold Obedience” by Bro Chang Jih Ren on 18th Aug 2019

Sometimes, we are tempted and want the easy way out by taking short cuts once in a while. They are short cuts in our spiritual life, but we need to be careful with them. The preacher Bro Chang shared that they were a few temptations that may lead us to making short cuts in our spiritual journey. The first temptation was legitimacy of temptation. When Jesus was tempted by Satan to change stone into bread, it is legitimate (Luke 4:1-4). Jesus took the path of obedience and counters the devil for He answered, “It is written: “Man shall not live by bread alone”.  As mentioned in the Old Testament, the physical structure of the Church was not that important, but it was from whatever that came out of the heart. The second temptation was stepping out of the will of God. When Jesus was asked by Satan to worship him so that all the authority and splendour will be His, Jesus answered, “It is written: Worship the Lord your God and serve Him only”. Jesus countered the short cut. Then, the third temptation was without the price tag of the Cross. When the devil tempted Jesus to throw himself down from the highest point of the temple to demonstrate His divinity, he answered, “Do not put the Lord your God to the test.” Therefore, we do not do the work of God our way, but according to God’s way. When the devil had finished all the tempting, he left him until an opportune time. That was the price that Jesus had to pay. As a result, there is no short cut in our spiritual life as mentioned in Hebrews 5:8. So be sensitive and be ready to pay the price if we disobey God.