Then Jesus said to him, “Away with you, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the LORD your God, and Him only you shall serve.”
Matthew 4:10 NKJV
I’ll never forget visiting Frontier Days with my family. Held annually in Cheyenne, Wyoming, it’s one of the oldest and largest rodeos in the world. When I was there, I saw bull riding and barrel racing. But what sticks out in my mind the most is the time I saw a cowboy take down an angry steer using only his lasso.
When I read Matthew 4:10, I picture Jesus conquering the lies the devil told Him like that cowboy lassoing that raging steer. Satan had just tried to talk the Lord into worshiping him instead of God, but Christ responded by boldly proclaiming that only God is worthy of worship.
I think the Lord is making a good cowgirl out of me as He continuously provides opportunities for me to “lasso” my wayward thoughts, to send bad attitudes and ugly words packing before they do damage. Second Corinthians 10:5 says, “We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.”
Jesus commands us to deal with our thoughts and temptations the way He did. We’ve got to know and stick with what the Bible says, refusing to allow the enemy to “steer” us in the wrong direction.
