JESUS WOULDN’T DO WRONG
JESUS always did what God wanted him to do! Satan the devil tried to make Jesus do things that God did not want him to do, but Jesus always did what was right. I hope you remember the story of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. If you do, you know that Adam and Eve took the devil’s advice and did what God did not want them to do. It was because of this that they lost their beautiful home in the garden and grew old and died.
Now Jesus had come into the world to help everybody get perfect life back again, and the devil tried very hard to make Jesus do wrong so he couldn’t bring this great blessing to the people and thus make God’s promises come true.
When Jesus was baptized in the river Jordan, and the power of God came upon him, he knew that he could do many wonderful things he could not have done before. Jesus could now perform miracles. Maybe you don’t know what a miracle is. Well, a miracle is doing that which boys and girls and grown-up folks cannot perform. After God’s power came upon Jesus he could do many wonderful things.
We can’t make a beautiful flower, can we? But God makes them.
Did I hear someone say that flowers grow? Of course they do, but who makes them grow? It is God. We can watch flowers grow, but we don’t understand what causes them to grow, nor do we know why one flower is red and another pink. Well, God who created everything, knows.
And so, boys and girls, I want you to remember that because the power of God came upon Jesus, he could do things we can’t understand. It is very important to remember this, because I will be telling you of many wonderful things Jesus did, and I want you to believe that he really did them. The Bible says so, and we know that the Bible is true.
After the power of God came upon Jesus he was very happy and so interested in what God wanted him to do that he went into the wilderness to pray and to think about all God’s wonderful works, and didn’t eat anything for forty days. My, that was a long time to go without food, wasn’t it? Then of course, Jesus was very hungry, and the devil told him that he should use the power of God to make bread out of stones so he would have something to eat.
The Bible tells us that the devil tempted Jesus.
Do you know what it means to be tempted? It is wanting or being asked to do that which we know is wrong. Jesus knew that it was wrong for him to use the power of God to make bread out of stones in order to satisfy his hunger.
Why did Jesus know that this was wrong?
Boys and girls, I want to tell you something now which I hope you will always remember. It is this: try always to think of what you can do for other people before you think of what you would like to do for yourself. That is the way God wants us to be. That’s what we call being unselfish.
Well, the power of God was upon Jesus to enable him to do wonderful things for other people. It would have been wrong for him to use that power for himself. Jesus knew that he would find food after awhile, and preferred to go hungry for a short time longer rather than to use God’s power to make bread for himself out of stones.
This is a lesson which all boys and girls, and men and women too, will have to learn. If you remember this story, and try always to think of others before you think of yourselves, you will be really and truly happy. It is God’s way to be happy.
God is always doing things for others.
And just think of all the wonderful things he has promised to do for us! We want to be like God, don’t we? Yes, that’s the way God wants us to be, for he knows that is the very best thing for us.
QUESTIONS
- Did Jesus ever do wrong?
- Why would it have been wrong for Jesus to make bread out of stones?