Hi everyone! Happy Monday, and a huge thank you to everyone who came out to our first ever retreat on Saturday! Today, let’s reflect on these words from Matthew 4: 1“Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. 2 After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. 3 The tempter came to him and said, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.”4 Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.” I love this passage because it shows the humanity of Christ. We know that Jesus is 100% God, but we often forget that He is also 100% human. And since He is fully human, we can find peace and comfort in the fact that He experienced human life in the same way we do. We see here that Jesus felt hunger, battled temptation, and faced the devil, just as we do. We see in verse three that the devil taunts Jesus by saying that if He is truly the Son of God, He should be able to turn stones into bread. The devil knew that Jesus was hungry, so he tempted Him with something he knew Jesus would want- food. He also questioned Jesus’s position as the Son of God, and tried to make Him forget who He belonged to. The devil does that to us too- he plants doubt, fear, and insecurities into our mind and tries to make us forget that we are children of the King! Jesus had the strength to resist temptation, and He used the word of God to fight the devil. He references Deuteronomy 8:3 in verse four, and states that the only nourishment we need comes from the Lord. God’s word is the most powerful weapon we have against evil! The world can try to make us forget who we are and who we belong to. It will try to tempt us and separate us from the truth, but God’s word is superior. God tells us that we are fearfully and wonderfully made in His image, and He will provide all we need. I urge you to look to God in the midst of your struggles, and find peace in the fact that we are united with Jesus through them. He lived a full human life, and He has experienced every single thing we have. We are praying for you, and have a great week! Peace, Bridget McKneely (PS- Want to write a Monday Ministry? Email bmckneel18@su.edu!)
Comments