It is perhaps surprising that the first encounter that the Son of God had on earth, the first meeting that the living creator had on earth was not a disciple, was not even a human being. The first encounter that the Son of God had on earth was with a spiritual being, a fallen angel, the adversary. 

Our gospel this week (Mt 4) then describes that the Son of God denies the will of this adversary and affirms the will of God. In essence, the first action that the Son of God has to do on earth is to say no three times to the voice of the adversary and yes three times to the will of God.

-He says no to the voice of materialism- the voice that says bread and my earthly needs are the most important.

-He says no to the voice of pride- to the voice that says I’m special and God will make manifest all of my personal desires.

-He says no to the voice power- to the voice that is content only when everything is as we would like to be. 

Dear friends, if we are to fulfill our sacred destiny and become Sons of God, we too must learn to imitate Him in the lonely dessert of our lives.

Therefore let us learn to say Yes to the will of God….

-Yes to making The Spirit our lifes’ blood- making the spirit the central focus of our lives.

-Let us learn to love to the feeling of humility before God more than the feeling of being special. 

-Let us learn to say Yes to surrender. Surrendering our personal will to the wisdom working and weaving in our lives.


Contemplation by Rev. Jonah Evans