This passage comes from the part of Jesus’ story when he went out into the wilderness and was tempted by Satan.
We are told that he was approached three times by Satan, and these words were spoken in response to the third approach when the devil temped Jesus with authority over all the kingdoms of the world, if only Jesus would bow and worship him.
And Jesus’ response reminds us that worship belongs to God alone because only God is worthy of worship.
God created us so we would worship him, and we worship God by living our lives dedicated to his glory and honour.
We worship God by loving God and loving our neighbour, and those around us.
We worship God by thanking Him for what he has done and is doing.
We worship God by declaring his praises to the nations.
We worship God by taking every opportunity to make less of ourselves and make more of Jesus Christ.
And when you think about, the best way to help ourselves when we are tempted (and the way temptation works is to try to get us to do the opposite of what I just said, and make less of Jesus by pretending to be a little gods ourselves, the best way to fight that, is to simply honour and glorify God with our lives, hopes, dreams and decisions.
And remember, this whole passage in Matthew chapter 4 helps us because it reminds us that even though we will fail, our wonderful substitute Jesus never did, and his victory is passed onto our lives.
So today, in whatever we do, may we seek first God’s Kingdom, and worship the Lord our God and serve him – only, ultimately, primarily and constantly.