Matthew 4:1-4 (ESV)

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.’”

Explanation:

It is so easy to allow our emotions and our feelings to rule what we do. Have you ever been tired and said something you instantly regretted, or been hungry and made a bad decision? I have. One of my favorite pieces of advice from my mom is to not make decisions at night. That is especially true for me as I don’t usually process information well or think clearly at night. Anyone else in that same boat? Being tired and hungry aren’t the only recipes for bad decision making - there is stress, bad company, incorrect information, putting negativity into our minds and hearts, and the list goes on.

In this passage of scripture Jesus has been fasting for 40 days and is being tempted by satan. If anyone was in the position to make a bad decision, it was Jesus. And satan knew just what to tempt him with: food. Yet Jesus didn’t take the short cut of turning stones into bread. In that moment after fasting for 40 days, He was so physically vulnerable, but He operated in what God the Father had in store for Him. Jesus fully experienced the temptation that we as humans face, but withstood the temptation for something better: the plan of God, ultimately dying on the cross for all of us.

The truth that Jesus spoke in this passage should make us realize that nothing in this life will give us what we need except God. Embracing God’s word is what allows us to experience the fullest life here and eternal life in heaven. There are no short cuts that work, no short cuts that offer anything close to what God and His word offer. We must set our standards based off the word of God and not on what our emotions tell us to do. Those emotions change, but God’s word is constant.

Application:

1. What emotions have you felt in the last day or two? Have they driven your decision-making process?

2. Are you willing to use the word of God to help you make decisions rather than basing them on your own emotions?

3. In order to do what the word of God says, we need to know what the word of God says. What is one specific step that you can take today to become more familiar with the word of God? Some examples include reading the Bible, listening to a Biblical teaching such as a sermon or podcast, or reading a Bible based devotion.

Prayer:

Jesus, thank You for what You modeled for us here on earth. Thank You for the example that You are to us and for the truth that we find in God’s word. Help us to remember that we cannot withstand temptation on our own, but it is only through Your strength.