Mark 1:13
For forty days
You were tempted
in the wilderness
with the wild beasts
by Satan --
You, the Son of God --
tempted by a fallen angel
who did not believe
he had enough,
nor that You
had enough.
He tempted you with "more."
How could he tempt You,
how could he offer
beyond what You have
when You have all --
when You are all?
And how can he
truly tempt me
when I have You --
the All Power and All Glory --
in me?
May I, too, submit
to the ministry of angels,
as you did,
and resist the temptation
to demand more than
the ALL that I already have.
____________________________________________
Do you find yourself wanting more -- more time, more energy, more space, more freedom, more something? (I know I do.)
Why do we doubt that in Him we have all that we need?
Never give up the poetry writing, Xinme. I love that God has used such beautiful and expressive language to show us the depths of human experience and our dealings with him. We miss out on so much if we ignore the poetry of the Bible. I also think re-expressing parts of the Bible in our own poetry as you have done can give us a fresh perspective on an otherwise overly familiar text.
ReplyDeleteI wrote a poem a while ago on the temptation of Jesus as you have done here, but unfortunately I don't have it posted on line anywhere for you to see and it is quite long. But keep doing this. Your poetic theme of wanting/offering more goes to the heart of the exchange between Satan and Jesus. Love it.
Thanks, Louise! It's true -- I do end up seeing things "differently" when I respond to my readings with poetry. It'd kinda cool, actually!
ReplyDeleteIf you ever post your poem, let me know:)
Thanks for taking the time to comment!
Poetry is awesome! Keep it up! The bible is So full of beautiful and rich poetry, I think responding with such prose is beautiful and God-honoring. I do the same thing sometimes, when the Spirit so moves me. ;-)
ReplyDeleteThanks for the encouragement, Kris :)
ReplyDelete