Matthew 1-2; Luke 1-2; John 1:1-18, 17:1-5
Matthew 3-4; Mark 1; Luke 3-4; John 1:1-19-4:54
Lately, in general conference talks, we've heard a lot about what it means to be an immediate disciple of Jesus Christ. I think that together, these scriptures from the directed study were a great example of that. Joseph, immediately obeyed when he found out that his fiance was carrying the Messiah. He didn't stutter within that obedience. (Matthew 1:18-20, 24-25) Another example of the immediate obedience from the people in Christ's life were the wise men that came to visit Him. They were "warned of God in a dream" that they shouldn't go back to Herod, so even though that was their home, they continued to flee because God asked them to. Also, within this same chapter, Joseph is asked to flee and he also faithfully obeyed. (Matthew 2: 11-14) I've never noticed the significance of John's name until reading through during this directed study. The name "John" wasn't in the family at that time, so Elisabeth and Zacharias were breaking tradition by naming their child what they did. They never stuttered in the naming process because they were told of God that his name will be John. Elisabeth and John bear their testimony immediately after their neighbors and cousins pestered them about the name. (Luke 1:57-66) Overall, there were so many references to being an immediate disciple. After all, it is what the Lord expects of us.
In Matthew 4:1, Christ went up to be with God. He was tempted by Satan, at least that was Satan’s objective. In verse 3, Satan wants Christ to question his identity. It won’t work though. Even though Christ could turn stones into bread, or really anything he needed, he won’t do it to prove his identity to Satan. We shouldn’t do anything to prove anything to Satan either. Even if it’s good or if it benefits us, if we feel tempted to do something that we know Satan would want us to do, we shouldn’t do it. Christ’s response in verse 4 is that there is more that makes him alive than just bread. He is alive not just because of the temporal things, but he’s alive because of the spiritual. If we were to deny that, personally, we would surely die in the sight of the Lord. Satan has an interesting response in verse 5 and 6. He puts him in a holy place, on top of a temple, and asks him to get down with the help of his angels. I had to sit back and ponder on this. What would I do if I was set on the pinnacle of the temple? By Satan? Christ stands his ground, and he won’t let Satan tell him what to do. He won’t even show the slightest obedience towards him because he knows who he serves. He doesn’t even entertain the thoughts of Satan.
After basically threatening Christ’s life with high heights, he takes him up on a mountain in verses 8 and 9. He shows and tempts Christ with all the temporary things. He shows him all of the great things that he can have in this life if he goes against the Eternal plan. Still, Christ knows who he serves and pushes Satan away.These scriptures are powerful. Christ had just fasted for forty days and forty nights. He must have been starving. For Satan to come to Him when he was temporally weak shows how devious Satan really is. He tempts him with the things that he doesn’t already have. The things that he’s been starved of in order to seek the importance of His Father in Heaven. Still, after all of this is said and done, he presses forward and continues to deny the temporal wants. Christ knows that "with God, nothing shall be impossible."Visualizing this experience that Christ had was interesting for me. I could see myself in Christ as Satan would pound Him with things that I might potentially want. I found myself shrugging off the temporal things even more to push through to all of this. It was interesting to imagine what Satan might offer me to go against God’s plan for me. How low would I stoop to let go of the plan of happiness? Would I really give up eternal blessings to enjoy temporal fun?
Going into this week I was having a hard time with all the commitment of time that a lot of my classes have. I was very prayerful when it came to setting pace goals to keep up with this week and not get too overwhelmed. I felt inspired on Saturday to implement a goal to work on homework every night until 8 o’clock, and stop there. I thought that this would prove difficult as I had a lot of things due on Wednesday, however I was able to get everything in and done on time. There’s a quote that really stuck out to me in the readings this week. It was Luke 1:37, “For with God, nothing shall be impossible.” With all the miracles that the people of the scriptures, (Mary and Joseph specifically) ran into with the preparation for Christ’s birth, it’s really no wonder that God is all-knowing and can ultimately show us the way when we ask. He loves us, he cares about us, and he wants us to succeed. When we obey Heavenly Father, we’re doing what will help us to succeed. He would never lead us astray.
Being an immediate disciple means that we should follow the first promptings when they come to us. God doesn't have the time to wait for us to decide whether or not we will be obedient. He's looking for those who are ready now. He uses us as tools to further the work of the gospel. He's ready to use us, but are we ready to let Him? Through immediate obedience and immediate discipleship, we show Heavenly Father that we're committed and we've chosen who we will serve. We show those around us that it's important to follow promptings and personal revelation. We show ourselves that we are deeply committed and have a testimony of Jesus Christ.
Posted on September 15, 2017
Posted on September 15, 2017
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