Daily Devotion

 

The Enticement of Instant Satisfaction

by | Feb 2, 2019 | Daily Devotion, Gospels | 0 comments

Matthew 4:3-4
The tempter came to him and said, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.” Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”

Satan’s first shot at Jesus was practical and physical. Jesus was starving and Satan offered the enticement of warm loaves of bread. Satan wanted Jesus to use divine power to meet His earthly needs. While Jesus would demonstrate divine power often, the miracles were always for others, never for Himself.

Jesus rebutted Satan with Scripture from Deuteronomy 8:3. This Old Testament passage describes God providing manna for the Israelites during their forty years in the wilderness. God gave them food one day at a time. Every day they had to depend on God for their daily bread. In the process they realized it wasn’t the bread keeping them alive but the Giver of the bread. They were not surviving by bread alone. They had to trust God for their daily existence.

Jesus’ refusal to turn the stones into bread demonstrated His trust in the Father to not let Him die in the desert. He was unwilling to disobey for instant satisfaction. He trusted God for His future, even though He had to wait, even though in His humanness He desperately wanted food. Are you willing to follow Jesus’ example? Will you trust God with your future . . . even if He asks you to wait . . . even if instant satisfaction is yours for the taking?

Lord Jesus, thank You for refusing to thwart the Father’s plan . . . as tempting as it was. Thank You for the example that I can push aside instant satisfaction in order to wait for better things. Help me trust You with my future. In Your name I pray. Amen.

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