Not By Bread Alone
Now when the tempter came to Him, he said, “If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.”
But He answered and said, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.’”
Matthew 4:3-4
As living physical creatures, we require physical food to sustain us and keep us going. Like other creatures we need nourishment. When Jesus was tempted in Matthew 4, he had fasted for forty days and nights. He was a Man and needed physical nourishment. He was hungry and His body would crave food.
Satan attempted to use this to his advantage, tempting Jesus to turn some stones into bread, that Jesus might eat. Of course, Jesus overcame this temptation. He knew that while physical food is a requirement to sustain the human body, spiritual nourishment is also required to please God and maintain us spiritually.
It is not just the food we eat each day that we should partake of. We also need to live off of God’s word - each and every day. How many of us forget to eat for a day or two? Likely, none of us. Our body reminds us that we need to eat. It grumbles and complains and we listen.
What about our spiritual hunger? Do we listen to that? Or do we sometimes forget to partake of God’s nourishing word for days on end?
Our spiritual body should remind us that we need to eat, similar to our physical body. We just need to get used to listening to the grumbles, sounds, and signs. If we find ourselves slipping up more often; if we find that we fall again and again and again; if we see that we are succumbing to sin more often than we conquer it, than perhaps we are not getting enough spiritual food to strengthen us.
Living “by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God” is a defining quality of a Christian. Feeding ourselves with spiritual food on top of our physical meals differentiates us from those of the world.
Reading and studying from God’s word is something that we need to make sure we are doing. Our actions - our lives - ought to be directed by our love for God and the words from His mouth. Let us continue to live off of God’s word and not by bread alone.
-- John Thrower Jr.