Throughout our lives we experience the tests of the Lord and the temptations from the Devil. God tests us to perfects us, to bring us into a deeper relationship with him. As fire brings out the purer metal, so the fire of God's test brings out the best in us. On the other hand, the Devil tempts us to separate us from God, to use our weaknesses and vulnerabilities to focus us on ourselves rather than God. The tests of God seeks to lead us into fuller life; the temptations of the Devil seeks to bring us into eternal death.

In the First Sunday of Lent's readings, we had another example of this. God created man and woman in his own image and likeness, but they were still creatures dependent upon God. Their identity was being in relationship with God. The test God put before them to perfect their union with him was they could partake of all of creation except the fruit of the tree of good and evil. 

The temptation from the Devil was to tell them they did not have to be dependent on God, but they could be like God or equal to God. This was not their true identity. He was saying to them to be other than they were. That was the first lie. The second was to tell them that they would not die if they chose their will over God's. 

Can we distinguish in our lives the different tests and temptations that come our way? Do we know how to embrace the tests and avoid the temptations? Only by God's grace and our cooperation can we do this. Pray for that grace.