I can walk away from this pretty box of chocolates.

See these “Temptations”? They don’t entice me in the least.

Get behind me, Temptations. You’ve got no hold on me.

Chocolate Temptation is just down the road, but I couldn’t care less.

Ha! Double chocolate cheesecake with a chocolate brownie crust and dark chocolate glaze with chocolate sprinkles, you make me sick.

Literally.

Chocolate makes me sick.

I pick out the mini chips in chocolate chip cookies.

I scrape off the chocolate topping on Rice Krispie Scotcheroos.

I chip away at the coating on Butterfingers.

I’m a bastion of strength when faced with an ooey-gooey molten lava cake.

I can turn down that hot fudge sundae or that creamy cup of hot cocoa without blinking an eye.

It’s easy for me to resist chocolate. That’s not real temptation.

The devil came at Jesus with a series of temptations in Luke 4. In order for them to be real temptations, they must have been things that looked enticing to Jesus —

• A loaf of bread after going forty days without food.
• An opportunity to reign as King by taking the easy way out and side-stepping the suffering of the cross.
• A chance to show off God’s miraculous power to the mocking voice.

Instead, Jesus refused to flaunt His Divine authority to satisfy a craving.

He chose the hard way of the cross because it was the Father’s way.

He didn’t test God by recklessly demanding proof of His love and care.

Jesus started His ministry by facing down evil and saying, “Not your will, Satan, but God’s be done.”

“This High Priest of ours understands our weaknesses since he had the same temptations we do, though he never once gave way to them and sinned.” Hebrews 4:15