Many people know this verse, since Jesus uses it to combat the devil in Matthew 4:4 and Luke 4:4. I was excited to recently discover where Jesus quoted it from. It can be found in Deuteronomy. I am finding more and more how this verse is really an eye-opener.
"Man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord." --Deuteronomy 8:3b (ESV)
Man needs bread to live. This has been a truth for all time. Of course, we don't really live on mainly bread today, but the truth still stands. Man needs fuel, something to live on, something to give him enough energy to survive and to live.
Personally, if I don't eat real food for a little while, I get, well, kinda useless. It makes a difference whether I eat something that is substantial and actually nutritious rather than junk food. I've noticed lately that it is very, very similar with food for the soul. If you feed it junk, you will feel junky.
Scripture is food to our faith, but often, I find that I am filled with lies instead throughout my day. I'm sure you know what I mean. Something along the lines of "You'll get by without it this morning. You don't have time, anyway. What's the big deal?" It can be hard to battle the mindset of the world, that feeding our bodies is more important than feeding our souls. Our bodies are but temporary tabernacles for our eternal souls. How could feeding the temporary be more important than feeding the eternal?
Here's the truth, my friends. We need, more desperately than we could ever begin to realize, the Words of our God. We need it even more than we need bread for our bodies. We need it every second of every minute of every day.
My pastor recently preached a sermon, in which he spoke of "eating grace" while or even before you eat your daily bread. Feast on Jesus through His Word. He invites us to come to Him in John 6, to feast and never hunger again.
Here's my challenge for you and me, as Christian young ladies striving to follow Him. When you get up, as you begin your day, eat grace. Feast on Christ. Feed your soul with the only One who could ever satisfy you, for man cannot live by just the food he shovels into his mouth in an effort to satisfy his stomach, but by the Words of his God, revealed in the Scriptures.
"Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst." --John 6:35 (ESV)
This could be just what I needed to hear, Hannah. This morning I've been struggling over a book I'm reading, which I've been enjoying, but have some qualms about. It's a funny memoir that could give me some insight as I embark on my European journey in a few weeks, but at the same time it tacitly advocates a lifestyle that doesn't honor God. I hate putting a book down in the middle--especially one that I'm enjoying so much, but when you wrote, "If you feed it junk, you will feel junky," it just confirmed what I've been feeling.
ReplyDeleteOh, Miss HANNNAAHHHH! Thank you, thank you, thank you. This is so true and most definitely defines how I felt a few weeks ago. Jesus finally got a hold of me and showed me why I was feeling so blah and why everything seemed to be going wrong. Because I lacked Him and instead I feasted upon something else.
ReplyDeleteThank you, my dear, for being so encouraging to me. <3
Love, Mary Kate :)
Cogent post, Hannah! "Eat grace." A commendable command, yet it is a struggle, an act of my redeemed will to focus on the Lord even when doing my devotions. It's then I'm tempted to listen to Casting Crowns "instead". Imagine me, sometimes pouring over my Bible, trying hard to just stare at the words and let their sense come to me. Elisabeth Elliot and Nancy Leigh DeMoss seem so fitting, so savory... so inviting on their shelf; yet I know theirs are words "about" eating grace. Not grace itself. The Word was with God and was God in the beginning, and it was made Flesh and dwelt among us; Christ is the same yesterday, today, & forever. Why I want to eat something other than unchanging, truthful grace is beyond me!
ReplyDeleteI so needed this reminder!
Thank y'all so very much for your encouragement!! :)
ReplyDelete@Abigail: oh yes, I can understand the feeling.
@MK: Thank you, m'dear. :) you are very welcome. <3
@Lauralea: heh. That's pretty familiar, from the Casting Crowns part to the wanting to read "about eating grace." I can completely relate. If we know in our hearts that grace satisfies, why settle for anything less? I need Jesus badly for help with this every. Single. Day. :)
Hannah :)