SCRIPTURE: Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’” Matthew 4:4 NIV
THOUGHT: Jesus is speaking to Satan when he says this. He quotes from Deuteronomy 8:3 – Moses reminding people of their long journey from slavery. Jesus knew the context of the words he was speaking, and he knew the truth of them, having been led to the wilderness by the Spirit, and at the end of a 40-day fast:
He humbled you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna, which neither you nor your ancestors had known, to teach you that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord.
Hebrews tells us Jesus learned obedience from the things he suffered, and here is one of them. God’s training program involves causing you to be hungry, then feeding you with something from his hand you know nothing about so you learn to rely more on words from his mouth than whatever you can find to fill that emptiness inside. Jesus went through the training, and if we really love God, how would we expect to avoid it? When we take the path the Spirit calls us to, we hunger, but we emerge humbled, with the spiritual strength to say to the tempter, “I have food to eat that you know nothing about (Jn. 4:32).”
PRAYER: Oh Father, if I’m honest, some days the hunger inside threatens to overwhelm me. Continue to teach me to rely more on every word from you to fill the aches and longings. Keep me from the temptation of turning stones into bread.
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Blogger Amy Clemens is the author of Walking When You’d Rather Fly: Meditations on Faith After the Fall. In it she explores childhood sexual abuse and how it impacted her faith (or lack thereof) for four decades. You’ll find not only her story, but better yet, the Big Story of God.
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