The accuser of the brethren and God’s adversary, the devil is known for a few tricks that he has up his sleeve, by which he attempts to beguile and mislead those who belong to Christ Jesus. To understand his schemes, it is best to look at the way he approached to tempt the sinless Jesus Christ. The temptation of Jesus Christ is recorded in the book of Matthew 4:1-10.
The first trick of the devil is that he appeals to the appetite. Jesus was hungry after fasting for forty days and forty nights, and the devil tempted Jesus by appealing to appetite, asking Jesus to turn the stones to bread. Jesus responded from the Scripture, stating that “man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God”. Secondly, the devil tempted Jesus by appealing to avarice, to usurp the throne of God that He had humbly given up, by questioning the position Jesus had (as he did the first time), which was “the Son the God”. When the devil tried to tempt the Jesus by asking Jesus to test the Lord God, Jesus responded by stating, the the Lord God should not be tested. Finally the devil tempted Jesus by appealing to ambition. The third time, note, how the devil does not question Jesus by asking Him if Jesus was the son of God, but instead, shows him all the kingdoms of the earth and attempt to appeal to Jesus’ ambition (quest for power and position).
The devil appeals to our appetite (physical primarily), our avarice (greed for more) and an appeal to our ambition (quest for power and position). Let us hold fast to the Scripture (as Jesus Christ did) and use the word of God, so that we may not fall into the traps laid for us by the devil.
