Matthew 4

4 Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. ² He fasted forty days and forty nights, and afterwards he was famished. ³ The tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.” ⁴ But he answered, “It is written,

‘One does not live by bread alone,
    but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”

⁵ Then the devil took him to the holy city and placed him on the pinnacle of the temple, ⁶ saying to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down; for it is written,

‘He will command his angels concerning you,’
    and ‘On their hands they will bear you up,
so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.’”

⁷ Jesus said to him, “Again it is written, ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’”

⁸ Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor; ⁹ and he said to him, “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.”¹⁰ Jesus said to him, “Away with you, Satan! for it is written,

‘Worship the Lord your God,
    and serve only him.’”

¹¹ Then the devil left him, and suddenly angels came and waited on him.

Jesus Begins His Ministry in Galilee

¹² Now when Jesus^[a] heard that John had been arrested, he withdrew to Galilee. ¹³ He left Nazareth and made his home in Capernaum by the sea, in the territory of Zebulun and Naphtali, ¹⁴ so that what had been spoken through the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled:

¹⁵ “Land of Zebulun, land of Naphtali,
    on the road by the sea, across the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles—
¹⁶ the people who sat in darkness
    have seen a great light,
and for those who sat in the region and shadow of death
    light has dawned.”

¹⁷ From that time Jesus began to proclaim, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.”^[b]

Jesus Calls the First Disciples

¹⁸ As he walked by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea—for they were fishermen. ¹⁹ And he said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you fish for people.” ²⁰ Immediately they left their nets and followed him. ²¹ As he went from there, he saw two other brothers, James son of Zebedee and his brother John, in the boat with their father Zebedee, mending their nets, and he called them. ²² Immediately they left the boat and their father, and followed him.

Jesus Ministers to Crowds of People

²³ Jesus^[c] went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the good news^[d] of the kingdom and curing every disease and every sickness among the people. ²⁴ So his fame spread throughout all Syria, and they brought to him all the sick, those who were afflicted with various diseases and pains, demoniacs, epileptics, and paralytics, and he cured them. ²⁵ And great crowds followed him from Galilee, the Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judea, and from beyond the Jordan.

_________________________________________________________________

I was listening to sports radio a while back and the subject of when does a player retire came up.  The ex-athlete said that you always love playing the game; you know it is time to retire when you are no longer passionate about putting in the preparation work that enables you to play the game.

I was reminded of that interview as I read about Jesus in the wilderness.  The part of the story that we cherish is the showdown with Satan.  Jesus masterfully shoots down the temptations using scripture and establishing His authority.  I love the epic stories: Elijah's battle with the priests of Ba'al, Jesus feeding 5,000, the resurrection, the Acts of the Apostles, etc.  But in every single story there is also the preparation that comes before the event.  There is the fasting, the praying, the quiets times, the small and simple choices that build and reveal integrity.  

There is no wasted time in this life.  Our daily lives may not be filled with amazing encounters, but they may be times of preparation for amazing encounters.  I love my job at Joel's Place.  Before I worked at Joel's Place I spent two years working in the Sears warehouse and questioning it every day.  How was I impacting the Kingdom?  How was this a good stewardship of all the gifts and training that I had received over the previous 15 years?  What I have discovered is that it took those two years for me to be ready to lead at Joel's Place and for Joel's Place to be ready to receive me.  I am sure that day 29 of Jesus' fast was not glamorous...it was another day wandering in the desert with no food.  He was being faithful and preparing Himself.  The end result was amazing because He was faithful in the process.