ESOCS Devotional 30 April 2023: A Most Desirable Thing

ESOCS Devotional 30 April 2023

MEMORY VERSE:

“But Jesus said to him, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.’” Luke 4:34

TEXT: LUKE 4:1-13

4 Then Jesus, full of and controlled by the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led in [by] the [Holy] Spirit

²For (during) forty days in the wilderness (desert), where He was tempted (tried, tested exceedingly) by the devil. And He ate nothing during those days, and when they were completed, He was hungry.

³Then the devil said to Him, If You are the Son of God, order this stone to turn into a loaf [of bread].

⁴And Jesus replied to him, It is written, Man shall not live and be sustained by (on) bread alone but by every word and expression of God.

⁵Then the devil took Him up to a high mountain and showed Him all the kingdoms of the habitable world in a moment of time [in the twinkling of an eye].

⁶And he said to Him, To You I will give all this power and authority and their glory (all their magnificence, excellence, preeminence, dignity, and grace), for it has been turned over to me, and I give it to whomever I will.

⁷Therefore if You will do homage to and worship me [just once], it shall all be Yours.

⁸And Jesus replied to him, Get behind Me, Satan! It is written, You shall do homage to and worship the Lord your God, and Him only shall you serve.

⁹Then he took Him to Jerusalem and set Him on a gable of the temple, and said to Him, If You are the Son of God, cast Yourself down from here;

¹⁰For it is written, He will give His angels charge over you to guard and watch over you closely and carefully;

¹¹And on their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.

¹²And Jesus replied to him, [The Scripture] says, You shall not tempt (try, test exceedingly) the Lord your God.

¹³And when the devil had ended every [the complete cycle of] temptation, he [temporarily] left Him [that is, ^[h]stood off from Him] until another more opportune and favorable time.

Read Yesterday’s ESOCS Devotional here

Our Lord Jesus fasted for 40 days and the devil tempted Him with different temptations. The devil is a clever strategist. He knew our Lord was hungry after that while in the wilderness. The first temptation he came up with was food. He knew our Lord was capable of turning the stones into bread. However, what he actually wanted Him to do was to engage in the sin of showmanship, which is against the kingdom principle of humility and self-effacement. Later on in His lifestyle, our Lord began to teach us to do all things to the glory of the Father alone. Any other attitude is carnal; and against God.

Food is necessary for the nourishment of the body; but the word of God is the necessary nutrient the soul and the spirit need. Without it, we would be completely lost in this dark world of sin. Sin would separate us from God; and He would reject us. The word of God gives us direction on how to live our lives successfully to God’s glory and our wellbeing. It would make us “wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus” (2 Tim. 3:15).The psalmist describes it appropriately, when he says, “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path” (Ps. 119:105). Job says, “I have not departed from the commandment of His lips; I have treasured the words of His mouth more than necessary food” (Job 23:12).

The word of God would teach us how to become holy. It would give us the knowledge we need to succeed in our endeavours, careers, and businesses; and live a prosperous life, lacking nothing.

We should continually search the scriptures to imbibe the teachings and precepts. It would change our outlook to life, as we understand the deep things of God. It would help to make us clean; and remove our minds from the pleasures of this present world. Our Lord said to His disciples, “You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you”(Jn. 15:3). We would also be clean if we apply the word of God to our lives. That was what the apostles did. As followers of Christ, let us learn to live a life of practical Christianity

Our Lord has told us in very simple language that we should live “by every word of God”. This is a most desirable thing to do. Let us develop hunger for it. The distractions around us may try to suppress this urge in us. We should resist it. If we do not crave for it, we will not search for it; and we will not find it either. Therefore, we will not live by it. In the end, we would become grand losers. This would not be too good for us.