July 11, 2017 - Jesus was led by the Holy Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. After a time, the devil came and asked Him to turn stones into bread to eat.
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 4:4)
Later Satan tried to get Jesus to worship him by promising him the world as payment for His worship.
Then Jesus said to him, “Be gone, Satan! For it is written, You shall worship the Lord your God and Him only shall you serve.” (Matthew 4:10)
In those two short verses Jesus gives us the secret to living a Christian life. The secret to an eternity with the Lord our God.
First, no amount of material bread or wealth can satisfy that hunger for that something more than what we all have. That yearning for more is instilled into us that we might search for God, that we might seek His face and accept His free gift of salvation.
This is most often lost on those who do not read the Bible as they just do not understand that longing. They tend to seek for more of what they have around them, material things, not understanding that their longing is for their spiritual needs to be filled by the love of God.
The apostle Peter says this about our need for a spiritual relationship with God.
“Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow into salvation.” (1 Peter 2:2)
It is this need for spiritual bread, the spiritual milk of the gospel, that calls all people to seek that something else in our lives.
Paul had this to say about the members of the church in Corinth, a church which he started on one of his missionary trips into Asia Minor.
“But I, brothers, could not address you as spiritual people, but as people of the flesh, as infants in Christ.
In the Book of Hebrews Paul goes farther to say; “For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the basic principles of the oracles of God. You need milk, not solid food, for everyone who lives on milk is unskilled in the world of righteousness, since he is a child.” (Hebrews 5:12-13)
This is a call for all to get into church to hear the gospel, the oracles of God, spoken to them each week. This solid food is the gospel message spoken by a God-called preacher and the words of God written in the Bible. Both are essential to salvation. “So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.” (Romans 10:17)
Through hearing the scriptures preached to us, we learn to fear the Lord our God and to worship none other. Through the gospel message we grow in faith.
We must have the solid food of the scripture if we are to mature in faith and become the useful servants that God wishes for all to be. We must have this knowledge if we are to find salvation and enjoy the eternal benefits of life lived in the light of Christ Jesus each day…
I ask you if your time was up today and you were standing before the Lord Jesus would He say to you; “Well done my good and faithful servant” or might He say instead; “get away from me you worker of iniquity, for I never knew you?” Think about it…
May the Lord bless you and keep you and make his face to shine upon you this day...
