Was Satan right in his appraisal of people when he tempted Jesus in the wilderness? Was he accurate in trying to convince Jesus that humankind is more interested in bread than belief? If so, then only a magic Messiah who could make food out of stones would capture our attention. If eating is our worship, then our stomachs become our sanctuary, making God useless unless we have plenty to eat. Was Satan correct when he insisted that people are reached only through the spectacular? If so, then our hope is only in One who can leap off of tall buildings without getting hurt. If our goal is to have God entertain us we reduce religion to a spectator sport. Are the nations of the world within the grasp of Satan to give away? If so, then we do need a political Messiah. If God has to negotiate with Satan for His kingdom then we are mere pawns in the hands of two mighty chess players.

We must declare that Satan was wrong, but can we prove it? He tried to tempt Jesus to use methods which would appeal to our lesser instincts which often dominate our commitments. Sometimes it seems that unless God feeds us He cannot be God. Often we are motivated more by the bakery shop than the cross. It seems prosperity is our main concern in salvation. Satan would have us believe wealth is a sign of God's approval.

After centuries of Christianity, we are still victims of the sensational. We search for the weird and unexplainable as though that were the only place to find God. Satan continues to make his appeal through the bizarre and the unusual. He would have us ignore the simple gospel as we look for Jesus amid the gimmicks of human ingenuity.

We are still tempted to win the world by the ways of the world. How strange that Satan's friendship is used to gain friends and influence people, even in church. We compromise ourselves and our faith by using church for personal gain. If our goal is to have the world, then we are tempted to let Satan help us achieve it. It we worship the devil we become like him in the way we worship. How quickly his methods are used to get what we want when we want it. Yet, he rewards us with malice, greed and discontent.

Satan is wrong!! We hunger for more than bread and prosperity. An entertainment mentality will rob us of lasting spirituality. We must have more than the strange and mysterious to make us genuinely religious. Our basic needs are for love, grace, forgiveness and hope, which help us face the everyday occurrences of life. Christ and Him crucified, resurrected and glorified is the only Savior we need.