January 1, 2022
Now when the tempter came to Him, he said, “If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.” 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 4:3-4
In this confrontation between the tempter and Jesus, we see the ideal response to temptation. The devil tempted our Lord unsuccessfully, and now wants to hurt Him by leading His children away from Him. Each and every word that proceeds from the mouth of God is a gift that will guide, guard, rebuke, and empower us to stand against temptation. God is patiently teaching us how to live for eternity. It is a lesson that we have opportunity to learn now. The choice of whether or not we will live in eternity is given to each of us.
In these last days, most of those claiming to follow Christ are actually going through the motions of words that proceed from the mouths of mere men. These teachers and leaders claim to live by God’s Word, but on crucial points have deleted, added, altered, or substituted other ideas that conflict with the established precepts of the Lord. In addition, those who truly desire to learn and to live by God-given precepts are ridiculed and scorned by the very teachers and leaders who are going by an altered set of instructions.
Jesus did not change the stones into bread. It is not that the Creator of the universe isn’t perfectly capable of commanding stones to become bread, but that was not His purpose. Jesus came to set the record straight about the identity and character of His heavenly Father. Satan began his confrontation by saying “If…”. The entire contemptible premise is exposed in that one short word. Casting doubt regarding God’s character and the identity of His Son must necessarily be recognized by the discerning disciple of Jesus as the enemy’s “standard procedure.” Our life’s goal should be to positively identify Who it is that we worship and obey only His voice. This is how we show our love for Him. The great impostor desires worship for himself, so he continues to weave his deceptive way through undiscerning human minds: shifting, adding, deleting and substituting conflicting ideas that are his own. To heed these other voices is to unwittingly be tricked into worshiping someone other than the one true God.
The Word of God is an invitation to life. Invitations contain the answers to who?, what?, when?, where?, and how? The Creator marked His creation with a special day that is a sign of Who we worship and what He has done for us. He desires for us to direct our worship towards Him alone, in spirit and in truth (see John 4:23-24, 1 John 4:6). The earliest precept, after creation itself, established in God’s Word is an invisible “crown upon creation,” a “place in time” designated as a blessed and sanctified day of rest. Happy Sabbath, beloved!
Thus the heavens and the earth, and all the host of them, were finished. And on the seventh day God ended His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done. Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made. Genesis 2:1-3