Come Be My Follower - Jehovah's Witnesses Official Media Web Site

“HE LEARNED OBEDIENCE” 61
accepted Jesus as the Messiah on the basis of such showmanship,
might Jesus not avoid a lot of hardship and
trouble? Perhaps. But Jesus knew that it was Jehovah’s will
for the Messiah to carry out his work in a humble manner,
not to influence people to believe in him by means of
spectacular displays. (Isaiah 42:1, 2) Again, Jesus refused
to disobey Jehovah. Fame held no lure for him.
14 What, though, about the lure of power? In his third attempt,
Satan offered Jesus all the kingdoms of the world if
Jesus would perform a single act of worship to Satan. Did
he seriously consider Satan’s offer? “Go away, Satan!” was
his reply. He added: “For it is written, ‘It is Jehovah your
God you must worship, and it is to him alone you must
render sacred service.’ ” (Matthew 4:10) Nothing would
ever induce Jesus to worship another god. No offer of
power or influence in this world would sway him to commit
any act of disobedience.
15 Did Satan give up? He did leave at Jesus’ command.
However, Luke’s Gospel states that the Devil “retired from
him until another convenient time.” (Luke 4:13) Indeed,
Satan would find other occasions to test and to tempt
Jesus, right down to the end. The Bible tells us that Jesus
was “tested in all respects.” (Hebrews 4:15) So Jesus was
never able to let down his guard; nor are we.
16 Satan continues to tempt God’s servants today. Sadly,
our imperfections often make us easy targets. Satan craftily
appeals to selfishness, pride, and greed for power. Using
the lure of materialism, Satan may even appeal to
all of these at once! It is vital that we pause, at times, for
honest self-examination. We do well to meditate on the
words of 1 John 2:15-17. As we do, we might ask ourselves
16. How does Satan tempt God’s servants today, and how may we reject
his efforts?