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Mathew 4:1-4
Jesus was led into the wilderness. He was alone… except for God the father and the Satan was there. This was a time of deep communion with God.
Besides fasting and communion in the wilderness, Jesus was tempted as well. After 40 days Jesus was understandably hungry.
Satan came to Jesus and said, “if you are the Son of God, command these stones to turn to bread.”
Satan’s temptation was not a test of Jesus sonship. Instead, it was an appeal to the growing hunger Jesus must have been feeling.
Jesus could have thought, “yes I am hungry, yes I do have the power and I could change these stones into bread.” He didn’t… Instead he responds that, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes out of the mouth of God.”
What would have been wrong with Jesus turning these stones into bread? Jesus came to do the will of the Father. That was his mission.
Another time Jesus was tempted in this manner was when he was hanging on the cross. “If you are the Christ, come down from the cross.”
Jesus was also tempted in Samaria… the disciples came back with food and told Jesus that he should eat. Jesus said, “My meat is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work. That is my food.”
Another reason that it would have been wrong for Jesus to turn these stones into bread was that he would have been going along with Satan instead of honoring God.
We must acknowledge God’s word and accept it and follow it.
Hebrews 1:1-2, John 1:1-4
Jesus is called the bread of life, the light of life, the prince of life and here he is called the word of life.
It should come as no surprise that God calls us to feed on the bread of life.
John 6:27-58
Jesus tells us that our focus should be on spiritual food, on the word of God.
There are many approaches to reading the Bible, reading lots of scripture, reading small amounts of scripture, etc. The important thing is definitely to be in the scriptures… but don’t be afraid to “change it up.” However we read, we need to come with a clean heart, read in the spirit of Christ and with a prayerful devotion to Christ, read thoughtfully, carefully, ask “how does this apply to me?”
If you continue reading, carefully, prayerfully and thoughtfully… you will receive a blessing.
