Luke 4:1-13

After his baptism, Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness, where for forty days he was tempted by the devil. He ate nothing at all during those days, and when they were over, he was famished. The devil said to him, "If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become a loaf of bread." Jesus answered him, "It is written, 'One does not live by bread alone.'"

Then the devil led him up and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. And the devil said to him, "To you I will give their glory and all this authority; for it has been given over to me, and I give it to anyone I please. If you, then, will worship me, it will all be yours." Jesus answered him, "It is written, 'Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him.'" Then the devil took him to Jerusalem, and placed him on the pinnacle of the temple, saying to him, "If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here, for it is written,

'He will command his angels concerning you, to protect you,' and 'On their hands they will bear you up, so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.'" Jesus answered him, "It is said, 'Do not put the Lord your God to the test.'" When the devil had finished every test, he departed from him until an opportune time.

Ash Wednesday is the beginning of the season of Lent in the church’s calendar. Lent lasts for 40 days and it is a symbolic representation of forty days that Jesus spent being tempted by the devil in the wilderness. The last day of Lent is Easter day, the day the church celebrates the day that Jesus miraculously rose again from the dead. Even if you are not a religious person there is something that we can all learn from the Lenten story. That thing is that we all have our wilderness moments at various points in our lives. Even Jesus had his and he was the son of God. Life is strange, sometimes our lowest points come right after some of our highest moments. Nobody likes to be distressed or to suffer or to have hard times. Sometimes our low points in life are actually very painful experiences. Fortunately they don’t last forever which is a good thing. Nothing lasts forever. In the temptation story it is the Holy Spirit of God that actually drives Jesus out into the wilderness. He didn’t do anything wrong. He wasn’t being punished for some sin, the wilderness experience is all a part of his growth and development – painful as it may be.

When I arrived in Hong Kong I decided to join a gym to keep in shape. After 3 weeks in quarantine I realized that I my muscles had become weak due to a lack of activity. By nature I am not the most athletic person and gravity and I are not the best of friends on the best of days. So I developed a routine where I would go to the gym to lift some weights to get my strength back. It was very hard work!!! Many days I felt like giving up. Many days I convincingly generated at least 3 excuses to not go to the gym that day. I really had to push myself to make an effort to jump on the bus and go. I started out with light weights and gradually added a little more as my strength returned. Grudgingly I had to admit that I was beginning to feel a lot better. I could walk faster and longer and carry heavy loads further. I love walking all over Hong Kong. It is a beautiful place and walking keeps you healthy. It also helps to walk off all of the yummy food that I find to eat seemingly around every corner of the city.

Hard times builds mental and emotional muscles. Hard times, temptations and wilderness experiences are the gyms for the soul. Difficult times build character. Character builds endurance and endurance gives you the strength to win in the end. For us as Christians we tend to look for clues in the life of Jesus to help us navigate life. In the story he pushed back against the temptations of the devil by using the scriptures that he had learnt. The scriptures gave him comfort