Being In the Word || #4 To Live

   Greetings, friends! After a bit of a break, it's time for the fourth installment of Being in the Word. I hope to continue encouraging you and I both to delight in the words of our Lord. It is truly indispensable for LIFE!

   Many of us are familiar with the incident recorded in the fourth chapters of Matthew and Luke. Jesus was led into the wilderness by the Spirit, where he spent forty days fasting and being tempted by the devil. Satan told Jesus to command a stone to be turned to bread. Take a look at the Christ's response:

But He answered and said, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.’”

Matthew 4:4

   Not only is Jesus quoting scripture to refute the devil, but He is quoting scripture about the words of God! Our Savior knows the importance of the Word. In this case, He referred back to the book of Deuteronomy, where Moses spoke to the children of Israel. Chapter eight opens with these powerful words:

“Every commandment which I command you today you must be careful to observe, that you may live and multiply, and go in and possess the land of which the Lord swore to your fathers. And you shall remember that the Lord your God led you all the way these forty years in the wilderness, to humble you and test you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not. So He humbled you, allowed you to hunger, and fed you with manna which you did not know nor did your fathers know, that He might make you know that man shall not live by bread alone; but man lives by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the Lord."

Deuteronomy 8:1-3

   As believers in Christ, we have abundant, eternal life. Jesus declared:  ^"It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life." (John 6:63). We who have accepted the words of life have received a precious gift. Our earthly lives should reflect his.

 Oh that my ways may be steadfast
    in keeping your statutes!

 Then I shall not be put to shame,
    having my eyes fixed on all your commandments.

Psalm 119:5-6

   Not only do God's words give us life, but they also change our style of life! Just as we need food for our daily life, we need the Bible for every day of our walk with the Lord. In the words of the apostle Peter: "Therefore, laying aside all malice, all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and all evil speaking,  as newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby, if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is gracious." (1 Peter 2:1-3). May you and I both be challenged to LIVE according to the scriptures this week,