Life Through the Word

( 4-11-23 )

"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

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After Jesus had finished fasting for forty days and forty nights in the wilderness, the devil came and tempted Him saying, "'If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread'" ( Matt. 4:3 ). By inciting Jesus to do this, the devil was trying to get Jesus to use His power as the Son of God for His own self-interest. However, Jesus rebuked the devil by stating, 'Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God' ( Matt. 4:4 ) . Not only does Jesus' response emphasize how Scripture needs to be used in resisting temptation, but the description of God's Word as something we live by as we do bread shows what mindset we should have when approaching the Bible. We need to depend on God's Word in the same way that we do food. This means that the daily meditating and application of Scripture to our lives should be a priority that we have. We need to be careful to not neglect it as it is essential in maintaining spiritual growth and in having a lasting relationship with God. It is through studying it that we will also be able to properly share it with those who are lost. Just as how lack of food in the body leads to physical hunger, lack of spending time alone with God in His Word will leave us in a position of spiritual poverty that can be detrimental to our faith.

Q: How has your time in God's Word been recently? What improvements can be made to ensure that you keep God's Word as a priority in your life?

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God, thank You for Your Word and for the blessing of having it as accessible as it is today. Please help me to live by Your Word as I do physical food and help me to make time each day to meditate on it. Thank You for all that You do for us.

In Jesus' Name, I pray, Amen.