The First Temptation of Jesus

Immediately after his Baptism, Jesus goes into the desert to pray. There the devil tempts him saying: 'If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to turn into bread.' Jesus responds, Man does not live by bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.

Jesus resists temptation by establishing his priority – a relationship with His Father in prayer.

The devil tempts us to turn our priorities upside down. Satan says: “Listen, work is overwhelming right now, and you can’t ignore the needs of your kids, plus you are exhausted. God is merciful. He will always be there for you. Take a break today from your prayer. God will understand.”

Do we fall into this trap? Do we take care of the tyranny of the urgent and leave God for later? And when we do this – are we really happy and at peace?

C.S. Lewis wrote: “put first things first and we get the second things thrown in; put second things first and we lose both first and second things.”