You know, in Matthew’s version of the Temptation in the desert,
Which takes place at the beginning
Of Jesus’ Ministry, as you all know,
Right after He has been baptized by John the Baptist
In the Jordan River.

Matthew emphasizes it is the Spirit that led Jesus
Out into the desert to be tempted by the devil.

So there is almost like God wants this battle
In the desert between Jesus and the enemy—
The devil, Satan, the tempter—to take place.

Why? Because—not because Jesus needs to be tested.
I mean, Jesus is God. We know He is going to pass the test,
And He does, even though it had to be really hard.

Imagine fasting for 40 days
And then these temptations, you know:
To be given the most delicious food you could ever want,
To be given power, honor, glory—

But Jesus resists it.

And the reason God wants this to take place
Is because Jesus, who is also fully Man, is now called to—

In a way, reconfigure, if you will, our DNA.

Our DNA, our inclination as human beings
To give in to temptations.

The reason our DNA, our inclination, needs
To be refigured is because Adam and Eve
Set it on a particular course.

Our First Reading.

The enemy, the serpent, tricked Adam and Eve
Into eating the apple, to cling to something
That they felt was going to give them their salvation.

That’s the trick.

Again, Adam and Eve were smart,
But they did not believe that God was enough.

And so this temptation, or this susceptibility,
This vulnerability, is within us now.

To think, you know what? God is not enough.
I need something more.

Whatever your apple is in your life,
We have that inclination.

Satan is there to whisper into our ears,
“Yes, take that apple.
Take that thing that you need.”

Whether it is money or, you know,
Someone constantly giving you praise and attention,
Or whatever it is—pleasure.

All those things that you cling to.

So when Jesus goes into the desert, He basically says:
“You know what? You can resist that now.
I am enough, and you can cling to Me.
You can come to Me, and I will—
I will give you what you need.

In fact, I will fulfill your desires
Beyond your wildest imaginations.”

Okay, so in this Lenten Season, we are entering into the desert,
And we try to sort of deprive ourselves.

We fast, we give alms, we pray more.

To put us in that zone where we are going to hear
The devil whispering to us.

And so that then will lead us to Jesus.
We will go to Him and say, “All right, Lord, give me
The strength to say no to this, to say yes to You.”

Now we just take it one day at a time.

This is such a crucial principle
In the Spiritual Life, because you might expand out and say,
“My gosh, 40 days—I do not know if I can do this.”

And maybe you gave something up for Lent,
And then tomorrow you fail at that.

You are like, “You know what? I will just forget
The whole thing.”

It is like, no—okay.
Maybe you fail today, but that is all right.
Go back at it again tomorrow.

One day at a time, okay?

And trust that even if you do struggle today,
That God is behind that.

You know, it was not easy for Jesus to be in the desert
Facing these temptations. It is okay to struggle.

Okay, so with that—one day at a time—
There is a song I am going to sing to you all,
Just to conclude here.

Hopefully you do not turn off the TV
And this does not plummet our ratings.

But it is a religious song,
But it is also like an old country western song
About taking it one day at a time.

So as we listen to this, we know
That God is with us. We do not have to worry about the past.
Do not worry about the future.

Trust that He is doing something powerful in our souls right now.

The version I am going to sing was sung by
An old country western singer.
His name was Merle Haggard.

∫ I’m only human, I’m just a man. ∫
∫ Help me to believe in what I could be, ∫
∫ and all that I have. ∫
∫ Show me the stairway that I have to climb. ∫
∫ Lord, for my sake teach me to take one day at a time. ∫
∫ Do you remember when You walked among men? ∫
∫ Well, Jesus, You know if You’re looking below, ∫

∫ It’s worse now than then, ∫
∫ pushing and shoving and a crowd in my mind. ∫
∫ Lord, for my sake teach me to take one day at a time. ∫
∫ One day at a time, sweet Jesus. ∫
∫ and that’s all I’m asking from You. ∫
∫ give me the strength to do every day ∫
∫ what I have to do, and yesterday’s gone. ∫
∫ sweet Jesus, and tomorrow may never be mine. ∫
∫ so for my sake teach me to take one day at a time. ∫
∫ so for our sake teach us to take one day at a time. ∫