He's been there!

One of my favorite verses in the entire Bible is in Hebrews. I liken a lot of what it says to being a youth pastor(though I am in no way saying that I am God). As a youth Pastor I spent as much time on the campuses as I could possibly get away with, eating lunch with the kids, going to their school functions and showing up at sporting events were some of the highlights. As a Pastor I have not changed that up in the least. I spend at the very least 2 days a week(because of my BGH schedule) eating lunch at the schools. I enjoy this time a lot, it reminds me a lot of my days as a teenagers and it gives me a good look into what goes on in teenagers' lives today. I want to be able to meet their emotional and spiritual needs, you cannot do that affectively as a youth pastor without walking into their world a few times each week. I do long for the day that I am full time at the church so that I can be on a campus 4 or 5 days a week, and that day will come.
Because I did play sports in high school I am able to meet the needs of our athletes at Pedro and at St. Augustine as someone who has been there. That is very important and that is an important thing to remember about Jesus, He has been there.
Hebrews 4:15 says, "We do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin."
The temptation of Christ is something we need to remember when we slip, when we fall or when we are tempted to do so. Christ went for over a month without food and then was tempted face to face by Satan. He was tempted in ways that we are on a daily basis, His pride. Every day we are tempted mainly in areas that affect our pride. THink about it, there is no sin we commit that does not involve us choosing ourselves over God, choosing our wants over what God wants for us. Every sin commited is because in that moment we had a major lack of humility.
The good news in all of that is that we serve a risen Savior, who sympathizes with us. He can truly say, that He has been there and He has done that. He walked this very same earth, faced some of the same temptations we do, and yet was without sin. That leaves us not only with a risen Savior who has been tempted as us, but a risen Savior who successfully shows us how to avoid acting on those temptations.
So the next time you fall, the next time you think God doesn't understand open up your Bible to Matthew 4 and read about His temptation, then read Hebrews 4:15 and find comfort in his sympathizing in your weaknesses.
Thanks for reading and have a great weekend!