The devil was baiting Jesus to try to get him to show that God was really with him. It was as if the devil was telling Jesus, "Before it comes to the crucial showdown between you and me at Calvary, show that God's behind you. It will give you more courage and strength if it is really true and if you can really trust him!" Jesus saw through the whole charade. He would not test God, because to put God to the test is to distrust God's faithfulness. Yes, we will all pass through the fires of trial and temptation. Yes, we want to be confident in God's presence. But, we never want to doubt his faithfulness to his promises or to us. We don't need to test his faithfulness; it's been proven over the course of centuries. The issue is our faithfulness and our limited view of all that is going on in his work in history. We must not think we can put God to the test; we are the ones who will be tested! Our job is to be faithful to our God as our God is faithful to us!