Tuesday March 15, 2011

Matthew 4:3-4

"The tempter approached and said to him, 'If you are the Son of God, command that these stones become loaves of bread.' Jesus said in reply, 'It is written: "One does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes forth from the mouth of God."'"

I admit I've never really thought about this particular answer of Jesus'. The next two responses of Jesus are pretty much the straightforward, what they say on the tin. And this response isn't complicated or anything, his general sentiment is clear, and as a fan of puns and overly clever retorts (I felt the need to "defend" a classmate against another by engaging in a technical debate on his word choice just today - I won), I was always just pleased that Jesus could come up with such a good comeback.

I've never really thought about what He was saying. I got the general message that God's things are more important than earthly ones, but I never really thought about it - we cannot live without the Word of God. Without God's love, we are not living. We are starving. Every word that comes from the mouth of God is keeping us alive - and I don't think just our souls. Our minds are part of our bodies, I think. All our cleverness will come to naught in the end, it will just be a thing that brought us closer to God in the course of this life or did not, like every other talent and attribute we have been given. Without God's words, we would not have hope or optimism or grace. Our world needs more grace. I suppose it always does, always has, always will.

There was actually a cheesy commercial for a church in Beaumont when I was growing up that listed how many days you can live without food, without water, and one other thing I can't remember and then finished, "but how many days can a man live without hope?" It ended on the image of a man picking up a Bible. I suppose it, too, was right in a way I never thought about before.

Our lives are sustained by the grace and love of God. I know that I forget that all too easily and wait for something that makes me remember his presence, a blessing or a comforting hand needed in crisis. We would not survive without the light of God in our lives. That is how we can know that He is always with us.

I think most of us fall into this boat. We forget, at times, to attend to this need - the spiritual need - which is practicing anorexia of the soul. Or bulimia, stuffing ourselves full and then vomiting it straight back out rather than letting spiritual growth become a part of our everyday lives. I apologize for the graphic nature of that last comparison, but you get the idea.

Lord God, may I always remember to nurture our relationship. May I never forget that I need Your grace to live, that You are the light of my life. Be with me always, Lord, even when I do not remember that I do not live by bread alone, may I never close my ears or my heart to Your every word.