Food for Thought.....

Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. And after fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. And the tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.” But he answered, “It is written,
    “‘Man shall not live by bread alone,
        but by every word that comes from the mouth of God. '''(Matthew 4:1-4)

After reading this passage this morning for our devotional, I thought of the applicability of the command that Jesus gave Satan. It is interesting how Christ uses both a natural reality, and also a spiritual reality. Food is the most essential natural reality to every man, woman and child on this planet. Christ understands the limitations that every human faces because he himself gave up his divine power to become a man. On the other hand, our most essential spiritual need is God himself. Christ knows this and that is why he emphasized the greater spiritual need, despite his weakness and temptations on a practical level. 

This way of thinking is so important in all aspects of our lives. We must not be so focused on earthly needs that we lose sight of the reality of our lives as a new creation in Christ. Our enemy would love for us to be focused on every earthly need so that our reliance and need for Christ becomes eclipsed. If there is anything that you take away from this passage please understand the implications of what our Lord is saying. Without God's word living in and out of our lives, without the life of the spirit transforming us into His likeness, we are dead men. If we are born again, that is, born of the spirit of God that has reconciled and raised us from the dead, we will LIVE by every word of God and eat that which he has given us. 

My prayer this new year for my self and my family is that we would know the beauty and the joy and the hope that comes with living by every single word that comes from the mouth of our Lord.