Day 261 – What do you hunger for?
Today’s Reading: Malachi 4 – Matthew 4
Matthew 4:1-4 “Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. The tempter came to him and said, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.” Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”
Naturally, I love food. It was actually one of the things that helped my husband and I to get along so well during the dating process because I wasn’t afraid to eat him under the table. Over my life time I’ve loved a variety of foods, but my tastes have changed here and there. However, one thing still remains, my overall fave food has been and will always be bread. So, when I have a huge decision to make or if I’m looking for a specific Word from God, food is what I fast from to show God my dependence on Him. I want the Lord to know that His Word is the only real “Bread” I need.
This was also a struggle in my morning devotions because I was so used to having food as soon as I woke up that I would get “Hangry” if you made me wait. When I noticed my dependency on food over God, I decided I needed to refrain from it all together until after I had my quiet time.
You see, the devil is always looking for ways to tempt us to trust in or want something more than we want communion with God. He even tempted Jesus in the wilderness with turning stones into bread after fasting for 40 days, with the ability to jump from a significant height without having harm come to Him from protection by the Angels, and by obtaining extreme power over all the kingdoms of the earth if Jesus would just bow down to Satan.
Your temptation may not be food, maybe instead it’s guilt, power, others, material things, envy, or any other fleshly desire that comes up. Any of these things can deter us from growing closer to Him. Once you recognize what your temptation is, you can choose to turn from it when you’re truly wanting to grow in Christ. For me, food is what I hunger for, but it’s in my times of fasting that I discover the greatest bread of all.
Running 2 Fly 