At one point, St. Paul proclaims to the church, “You may be able to have everything life has to offer, but not everything is good for you to have.” At least, my sloppy paraphrase reflects his sentiment.  I may be able to find a source of and purchase crack cocaine but it is not good for me.  I may be able to makes loads of money to buy and drive a Hummer but that kind of car and what it represents is not good for me.  I may be able to afford to eat out at nice restaurants for all my meals but such a diet isn’t good for me.  I may have the charisma to step on someone else’s back to advance up the company ladder but that is not good for me.  In all these cases, knowing what’s good for me is largely a matter of knowing from where something comes: transfats, a needle and spoon, GM shareholders, a dog-eat-dog company environment—none of these things ever point the way to life.  The writer of Deuteronomy lets us know that the good things in life—i.e., the things that give us life—all come from God.  The Jews attributed all of what matters in life—family, a home, food producing land, and authentic freedom—to God who they were wise enough to know as the source of life.  For his part, when faced with the same demonic temptations we still are tempted by today—fame, power, glory, personal prestige, and materialism—Jesus shoved the truth in Satan’s face: “Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him.”

    What in life do you really value?  What in life is worth holding onto and what should be passed by?  Knowing where something ultimately comes from will help you make the right choice.

 

When you have come into the land that the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance to possess, and you possess it, and settle in it,

you shall take some of the first of all the fruit of the ground, which you harvest from the land that the Lord your God is giving you, and you shall put it in a basket and go to the place that the Lord your God will choose as a dwelling for his name.

You shall go to the priest who is in office at that time, and say to him, ‘Today I declare to the Lord your God that I have come into the land that the Lord swore to our ancestors to give us.’

When the priest takes the basket from your hand and sets it down before the altar of the Lord your God,

you shall make this response before the Lord your God: ‘A wandering Aramean was my ancestor; he went down into Egypt and lived there as an alien, few in number, and there he became a great nation, mighty and populous.

When the Egyptians treated us harshly and afflicted us, by imposing hard labour on us,

we cried to the Lord, the God of our ancestors; the Lord heard our voice and saw our affliction, our toil, and our oppression.

The Lord brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, with a terrifying display of power, and with signs and wonders;

and he brought us into this place and gave us this land, a land flowing with milk and honey.

So now I bring the first of the fruit of the ground that you, O Lord, have given me.’ You shall set it down before the Lord your God and bow down before the Lord your God.

Then you, together with the Levites and the aliens who reside among you, shall celebrate with all the bounty that the Lord your God has given to you and to your house.

 

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 tim