“Jesus said to him, ‘Away with you, Satan! for it is written, ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him'” Matthew 4:10 (NRSV). In this response to Satan Jesus blends Deuteronomy 6:13 and 1 Samuel 7:3. In so doing, Jesus joins service and worship and adds the “only” from 1 Samuel; this echos the first commandment. For Jesus, worship and serving are joined together with the reminder that we “serve only him.” The great clue to the object of our worship is what we serve. It gets uncomfortably disturbing. It requires that we examine how we spend our time, our life, and our energy. This kind of examination will often require repentance and other mid-course corrections.
About the Author: H. Lamar Smith
Native of Alabama. Graduated from Valley High School, Valley, AL. Graduate of Trevecca Nazarene College, 1966. Graduate of Trevecca Nazarene University, M.A. 1992. Pastored churches in Tennessee, Kentucky, Oklahoma and Alabama.