The purpose of a test is to test our knowledge, skills and abilities.
In school, we are tested to determine if we possess the knowledge to move to the next grade level.
In college and careers, we are tested to determine if we have the skills and abilities to perform the job.
In God’s kingdom, we are tested through difficulties and temptations in order for God to determine if we are faithful to Him and have the ability to persevere through challenges and endure to the end.
If we fail any of these tests - school , college, career, kingdom - then we won't be promoted to the next level, proven to have the necessary skills or abilities to perform the job, or have the faithfulness to remain with God.
We might be required to take a re-test, and if we fail again, we might be removed from the program for not possessing the necessary skills, knowledge, or abilities needed to pass the test.
In the kingdom, we might be proven unfaithful, and it may be determined that our heart is not where the treasure is at, so turning back to God is necessary in order to remain with Him.
Though He has the right to test us, we have no right to test Him. He is the Potter and we are only the clay.
We are commanded not to test Him in Matthew 4:7 and Luke 4:12 where we are given the example of when God tested Jesus. God tested Him for the same reasons that He tests us.
Jesus's assignment was extremely important, therefore God had to know that He would have the ability to withstand the immense difficulties and pressures of temptation that He would face, and accomplish the task that He was sent for.
Therefore, when it was time for Jesus to go to the lost sheep, the Holy Spirit led Him to the wilderness to be tested, to ensure that He would perservere through the tough trials that He would face, and endure til the end.
During one of His tests, He was tempted to jump off of a building and kill Himself. The devil said that if He was truly the Son of God and threw Himself off of the building, that God's angels would protect Him and would not allow Him to be killed.
Jesus responded to the devil by saying, "It has been said, you shall not tempt the Lord your God".
What was He saying?
One, He was saying that He is God, and two, that He is not to be tested.
This is a command to His people. So, in order to obey His command and avoid testing Him, we need to know what it means to test Him.
One way is to go somewhere or do something without talking to Him about it first, and then expect Him to help us when we find ourselves in trouble.
We see this in the passage:
The devil tested Jesus by tempting Him to do something that God would not want Him to do, and then expect God to bail Him out of the trouble that He got Himself into.
If Jesus would have failed the test and jumped off the building, He would have most likely died and His assignment would not have been accomplished, and mankind would be doomed to destruction. That is why the devil wanted Him to die. He did not want God's plan to succeed.
But because Jesus was in constant contact with God, and was doing what God wanted Him to do, He knew that jumping off the building was not what God would have wanted Him to do, and that He would find Himself in a lot of self induced trouble if He did.
We are required to apply this same principle to our lives and obey Jesus's command. We are to remain in constant contact with God and do only the things that He wants us to do.
We are not to test Him by doing things that He does not want us to do and then expect Him to get us out of the trouble that we made for ourselves.
It is not our job to test God's knowledge, skills, abilities, or faithfulness. We do not have the right. When we do so, we exalt ourselves above Him, and think more highly of ourselves than we ought.
Taken in part from Kingdom Living: The Commands of Christ by Curtis Sergeant
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Responses from the group:
• The primary reason that God tests us is to show us that He loves us and that Jesus loves us.
• God tests us to see if we are learning what He is teaching us.
• Don't test God!
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