Tempted?

I think that I should give myself a pat on the back...why?...Because it is Sunday and I am writing today's blog...on time!

Today's journey to Canterbury was fairly uneventful with the exception that the train driver stopped at Chilham station, even though he was not meant to. It's not very reassuring when the driver is unable to read the timetable/running schedule, it kind of makes one wonder if he can actually see a red light...still we all arrived in Canterbury in one piece...maybe he should go to Specsavers (just to be sure)!!

It is Lent 1 today, that being the first Sunday in Lent. It is also the first day of my confirmation classes, more on that later.

The order of the day in Canterbury today was cold and wet. However the church was nice and warm, perhaps even too warm! The reason for this is that the church has been decorated recently and the heating had been left on to help the drying process. It is looking quite nice, still a few finishing touches to be made, but so far so good. The ceiling above the altar is now a nice blue colour.

In today's sermon the Bishop was talking about temptations and how important it is to avoid them. By this he did not mean avoiding the temptation of a biscuit if you are meant to be on a diet. But avoiding the temptations that are presented to us a christians. These temptations are often made by the devil or his associates, although it may not be blatantly obvious to us that it is the work of the devil. He can me sneeky and very subtle when he wants to be. He will try anything just to get a 'foothold' in us.

When Jesus went into the desert for 40 days and 40 nights the devil tried everything to tempt him, but he resisted. The devil tried to trick him, but Jesus was one step ahead of the devil and he had an answer to everything the devil said. Eventually the devil realised that his attempts to tempt Jesus were futile and so he left him.

We must be strong like Our Lord and resist the temptations and tricks. If we do this then the devil will realise that his efforts on us are futile and so he will leave us alone aswell. We must not let him get that 'foothold'. It reminds me of the saying 'give an inch and they will take a mile'...so don't give that inch to the devil, because he will then take everything!

It was the first of my confirmation classes today and it went well I thought. We discussed the name of Jesus and the other names by which he is known. We also discussed how Jesus implied that he was/is god without actually saying "I am God". He often said "I am", which I learnt means the same thing, although taken at face value it would be difficult to understand what he was saying by this. When reading the bible you have to look deeper than just the printed and actual words. Today's class helped me to understand that a little better.

Next Sunday is class 2...and with it a little more understanding I hope.

Until then I am going to try and resist temptations....but do I want a chocolate biscuit? Don't tempt me!!