Verse of the Day - Matthew 4:4

Jesus answered, "It is written: 'Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.'
~ Matthew 4:4 (NIV)

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What does Jesus mean here, exactly?

...that life (or the semblance of life with our eating and drinking), as we know it, doesn't even exist without God speaking into existence everything that we see and hear and know?

...that we are dead spiritually and bread just keeps our dead bodies walking, but that life -- real life -- is the spiritual component that only God can provide?

...that food cannot satisfy the deep things of our heart, no matter how much we try, and that God and His sustaining Word is where real satisfaction comes?

I'm thinkin' yeah, yeah, and yeah.

As I thought about this verse today, it just didn't have the simple one-answer connotation to me. And as complex as God is, I try not to limit Him to a single dimension in my mind -- He's too big for that. So what does this verse say to you, today? What is your issue over the physical versus the spiritual?

~ Do you know that God is vital to your daily life -- that without His Word, you flounder, at best?

~ Do you question that there is more than this physical life, that there is a spiritual component to your being? And do you think God could be the key to that facet?

~ Do you place such great weight on food and serve at the altar called "refrigerator", yet have neglected the source of real contentment, that dusty altar called "Bible"?

In Matthew 4:4, Jesus was confronted by the devil and tempted to make bread out of stones when He was hungry. But Jesus didn't take the bait -- He quoted from the Old Testament (Deuteronomy 8:3), putting the devil in his place and reminding us of all that this verse implies, that God and His word are what give us real life, of what sustains us in this life, and is of utmost value in this life.

Whatever our struggles and issues are, God is the answer. For those who don't know God, they say that's a cop-out; for those who claim Jesus as their Savior, they say that's completeness. We need to take a lesson from Jesus and reevaluate our thoughts about the physical versus the spiritual, because our lives -- our real lives -- depend on it.

Love,
Joelene