the first temptation

Journey through these last days of Lent with our poet friend

First Temptation of Jesus 

Baptized in the river Jordan, anointed from Heaven above,

Proceeding from the Father, descending as a dove.

Jesus rises from the water in the Spirit overflowing,

And walks into the wilderness without question where He’s going.

Led by the Holy Spirit, He steps free of trepidation,

Away from the world to a place of messianic preparation.

I long to be near, next to Jesus, but His solitude clear,

So I stay behind, following Him, that I to myself might disappear.

I remain with Jesus with my eyes and see Him weathered by the heat,

Tired with no place to rest and starving with nothing to eat.

I cling to Jesus with my heart and unite with Him in prayer,

Amazed how the Father’s Love pursues through dryness and despair.

Holy restraint and alone in prayer, such is the humility of Christ,

God, in communion, depending on God, and offering sacrifice.

In silence and selflessness, Jesus surrenders to the Father’s plan,

And there is tempted by the devil to prove He is the Son of Man.

But the hunger of Jesus cannot be satisfied by bread from a stone,

Because by the Word of God, one does not live on bread alone.

As I follow the Lord, meek and humble, with all my heart I pray...

To trust my every need to God, His time, and His way,

To hunger only for Jesus and revere His goodness and merit,

To walk by God’s grace not according to the flesh, but to the spirit.

And to live ever-knowing, even in darkness or the desert,

That I am His, a child of God, dearly beloved and treasured.