Thursday, September 24

Begin your time with God by reading the following verses.
Luke 4:5 - Jesus answered, “It is written: Man does not live on bread alone.”
Luke 4:8 – Jesus answered, “It is written: worship the Lord your God and serve him only.”
Luke 4:12 – Jesus answered, “It says: Do not put the Lord your God to the test.”

These three little verses contain the three responses of Jesus to the three temptations of Satan. Each time he was tempted, Jesus responded with Scripture. Interestingly, Satan himself even quotes a passage of Scripture and tries to twist its meaning it in order to tempt Jesus. But it is pretty hard to trick Jesus (who is the living Word) by using the Word of God. 

We ordinary humans are much easier to trick, distract and tempt. This is all the more reason that we should be feeding on the Word of God. If Jesus found it necessary to use Scripture to deal with His temptation, don’t you think it might be helpful for you too? 

But there is a bit of a problem here – Evangelical Christians have often greatly misunderstood how this actually works in the Christian life. Somehow we have developed this idea that if we know just the right verse at just the right time, we will be able to supernaturally repel the particular temptation we are facing at the moment. It doesn’t work that way. The Scriptures are not magical incantations against temptation, they are not magic words or a spell that repel the devil. (remember that the devil also quoted Scripture!) Jesus was not engaged in some kind of cosmic spiritual wizards duel! 

The reason that Jesus responds with the Scripture when He is tempted is because that is what was inside of Him! He saw the world from a Biblical point of view and when the devil tried to cloud His vision and tempt Him, He (Jesus) was able to naturally respond with the power of the Living Word inside of Him.

What does this mean for us? It means that we do not read the Bible simply in order to find a few individual verses that will help us when we think we need it. The Bible is not meant to be a means to your end. We read the Scriptures in order to be changed from the inside out! We read the Word of God in order to begin to transform our way of thinking! We study the Bible in order to see the world differently!

Psalm 119:9-11 - How can a young man keep his way pure? By living according to your word. I seek you with all my heart; do not let me stray from your commands. I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you.

The passage above from Psalm 119 is part of the longest chapter in the entire Bible. There are 176 verses in this Psalm! Do you know what the entire chapter is about? It is about the Word of God. The whole thing is devoted to the beauty, power, purpose and authority of God’s Word.

Close your time with God by thanking Him for giving you His Word.
Ask Him to help your mind and heart to be transformed through the power of His Word.
Close your time by echoing the final words of Psalm 119 as your prayer to God.

Jeff Frazier