Today is "Temptation Sunday." Every year on the first Sunday in Lent we focus our attention on the story of the temptation of Jesus. It is a story that has captured the imagination of Christians for centuries. They have sought to portray in art what it must have been like for Jesus to have been tempted by the devil. The picture on your sermon outline this morning portraying this ugly, grotesque, devilish creature is typical of the way the evil one has been portrayed. If the devil looked like this, you would never miss him. You would never be fooled. You would never fall into temptation.

We all know that is not the case. If the devil was so easily identified, then no one would ever succumb to his wiles and temptations. We look at people or pictures and we may choose to ask ourselves — Who …