A Dangerous Trap for Us

 I hear all of these people talking on the radio and on the Internet. They are talking about the same things, but they have completely different views on those things. They all think their point of view is right, but the truth is that only one can really be right. Yes, I know many people go by relativism which says that truth is relative so it can be different for each of us. However, that doesn't really make any sense because opposites can't both be true.

Jesus ran into this problem with His disciples. He told them that He was going to die and rise again, but they did not like to hear that. Peter rebuked Him and told Jesus he would not let this happen. (Matthew 16:23) Jesus turned to Peter and said, "Get away from Me, Satan. You are a dangerous trap to Me. You are seeing things from a human point of view, noy from God's. I believe this verse points out a huge truth that we all need to learn.

How could Peter be a "dangerous trap" for Jesus? Peter was just a man, and Jesus was Lord of all. However, Peter could influence Jesus to do things the wrong way, if He listened to what Peter said from his human point of view. That is what Satan tried to do when He tempted Jesus three times after His baptism. He tried to get Jesus to do things by the way of this world, not by the Father's way. Jesus did not give in to the temptation, but He was tempted. (Hebrews 4:15) He is saying to Peter that he could be a tempter who would lead Him the wrong way.

We all have to watch out for this. We can't just take what people say and run with it. We have to consider if what they are saying is from a human point of view, or if it is from God's point of view. Man's point of view is always wrong and God's point of view is always the truth in every situation. (Isaiah 55:8,9) Therefore, be careful! We don't ever want to lead people astray by telling them our point of view. We always want to give them God's point of view from His Word. Also, we don't want to let others tempt us with man's point of view, but to check everything by the Bible.

Tomorrow, I intend to read Matthew 18-20.