The Road Not Taken
By Robert Frost
Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;
Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,
And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.
I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.
I love that poem.
Let me tell you. Satan has not stopped. Temptation is around every corner of this world in every crevice and crack. Sometimes it seems that temptation is the very pavement of the only road to walk down. That is never the case.
Isaiah 43:19 CSB
[19] Look, I am about to do something new; even now it is coming. Do you not see it? Indeed, I will make a way in the wilderness, rivers in the desert.
There are always choices. We so often get stuck in our own created ruts that we forget or are just too lazy to look for them.
When Christ was tempted by Satan, He chose to Glorify God. Let’s look at those temptations in another one of the gospels.
Matthew 4:3-11 CSB
[3] Then the tempter approached him and said, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.” [4] He answered, “It is written: Man must not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.” [5] Then the devil took him to the holy city, had him stand on the pinnacle of the temple, [6] and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down. For it is written: He will give his angels orders concerning you, and they will support you with their hands so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.” [7] Jesus told him, “It is also written: Do not test the Lord your God.” [8] Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. [9] And he said to him, “I will give you all these things if you will fall down and worship me.” [10] Then Jesus told him, “Go away, Satan! For it is written: Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him.” [11] Then the devil left him, and angels came and began to serve him.
We are given 3 examples of the temptations of Satan to Christ and in every one Christ chooses to Glorify God. Every time. Then Satan leaves.
Mark 1:13-14 CSB
[13] He was in the wilderness forty days, being tempted by Satan. He was with the wild animals, and the angels were serving him. [14] After John was arrested, Jesus went to Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God:
While our verse today is 13 I want you to see the first part of 14. “After” and then “Jesus went”. The temptations were not the end of the story.
It’s easy to think when looking through the eyes of those of us who often refuse to see the big picture that free will doesn’t exist. There are obvious signs in the world that God works through his people. The temptations Satan gives us are there to distract us from seeing that or being those people that God is using. Satan is subtle and patient. He desires that Jesus not get the glory.
Satan would have you think that you are not redeemable. That God has chosen Himself for us rather than knowing which of us will Choose Him. That you have no choice, no free will.
Ephesians 1:4-9 CSB
[4] For he chose us in him, before the foundation of the world, to be holy and blameless in love before him. [5] He predestined us to be adopted as sons through Jesus Christ for himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, [6] to the praise of his glorious grace that he lavished on us in the Beloved One. [7] In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace [8] that he richly poured out on us with all wisdom and understanding. [9] He made known to us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure that he purposed in Christ
Satan would have you think that these verses stop at He chose in vs.4 but if we continue we see beauty in vs.9. “He made known to us the mystery of his will”. That very phrase gives us, choice. Choice to glorify God or not. Made known mystery, not forced it on you. Satan would have you see God standing at the gates of heaven saying you can come and you cannot. That isn’t the picture at all. The picture is this. Jesus standing at the gates of heaven holding them open. He’s saying that all who will come may. We being born in sin though are all running as fast as we can straight for the gates of hell. In His infinite wisdom He reaches out and turns each one of us around and says come this way. Unfortunately the vast majority will turn and start running back towards hell. Some though will choose Christ. They will choose to Glorify Him walking down the path less traveled.
Jesus had to be completely tempted as a man so that we could see that there is always, choice. Without the total temptations of Christ as fully man we could not recognize the choices He made as anything other than Choices of Christ fully God. There would have never been a demonstration that man could choose God every time. There would have never been an example to follow.
Satan hasn’t given up though. He will continue to try for as long as he can.
How to handle temptation?
Choose to Glorify God! There is always a choice.
There is a good resource available on this subject. A book I’ll link below. It’s not Christian or even theological in nature but it is a good resource. The story it tells is somewhat silly but the meaning is clear. I hope you enjoy it if you partake.
Change your questions, change your life.
Marilee Adams Ph.D.
Love in Christ,
Colby
Food for Thinking! 