Be Still And Know

Luke 4:3-4 The devil will always try to exploit our weakest places. Jesus hadn’t eaten for forty days. He would have been hungry in a way that I have never experienced. Every sinew in his body was surely longing for some food, so the thought that he could miraculously turn a stone into a loaf of bread must have been extremely attractive. But Jesus knew that he must resist the temptation and he did so by using scripture. Jesus had been brought up on the Old Testament and so, immediately, he was able to rebuff the devil’s attack. Jesus knew that his priority must be for spiritual food; he couldn’t allow the devil to lure him into going for second best. It is important we do not merely read the Bible but become familiar with it, so that in moments of pressure and challenge, we can recall verses that are precisely relevant to our situation. When I worked in India, I remember it being said of a former bishop that it really wouldn’t have mattered if he lost his Bible, because he was so familiar with its content