More Important Than Eating

“And Jesus answered him, saying, It is written, That man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.” (Lu 4:4 AV)

 

The thought for today is a simple one.  After forty days of fasting and testing, the devil tempts Jesus to perform a miracle to satisfy his own desires.  Eating would not have been an issue here.  Jesus would not have fallen into sin if he went to a local market and picked up a loaf of bread.  The temptation here was to immediately and supernaturally satisfy a deep urge because he had it in his power to do so.  Jesus was called to come in the form of a man and suffer as we suffer that he might empathize with our human condition.  To use His miracle-working power to satisfy his own desires without experiencing hunger and a resolution to that hunger as a human would, would undermine part of his ministry.  The response of our LORD is telling.  It is the proper response to all of life’s needs and desires.  Even if a need is a genuine one and a matter of life and death, that need does not supersede the need for the word of God.  It is not that Jesus believes he can live without eating.  Rather, the most serious and life-sustaining of all needs: food, and water; are still not as important as a regular diet of the word of God.  Basic staples are necessary for life.  But without a relationship with God through His word, there is no point in life.

We all have a regimen of one sort or another.  There are things we think we need and we cannot live without.  It is a sad affair going to a restaurant and watching the patrons spend more time on their phones than they do conversing with one another.  If the power went out for a few days so our phones couldn’t recharge, we wouldn’t know what to do.  Others are hooked on sports.  They wouldn’t be able to function if they couldn’t check the scores or watch the latest clip of a great play.  Still, others cannot survive without the one-eyed monster in the center of the room captivating their attention whenever they are near.  There is music, there are relationships, there is family, there is fashion.  There are dozens more things, experiences, or stimuli that seem to be a necessity worth dying for.  Many of these things are necessities of life.  Our lives would not be what they are without them.  Yet, the most needful thing is often the most neglected.

There is nothing wrong with pursuing our needs.  We would die if we didn’t.  Even those things which are not necessary for physical life are still legitimate pursuits.  The strongest desires or needs, however, do not compare with our need for the word of God.  The Bible is the voice of God to our hearts and souls.  We need to hear from Him more than we need a slice of bread.  We need to hear from the Spirit more than we need a drink of water.  This is to what our Savior is referring to.  He will not elevate a legitimate physical need over His spiritual need of a relationship with the Father.  Nothing else is equal to it.  No other element of life is more important than time spent in the reading and studying of the written word of God.  It is this very word that protected our Savior from falling to the devil.  It is this very word that would transform a nation and a world.  It is this very word that has, is, and will bring countless souls to the mercy of God.  It is the word of God that is that which we need the most.