On Bread Alone
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)
I get hungry, especially late at night. I can do well nutritionally-speaking from the hours of 6:30am - 6:30pm, and would even go so far as to say I excel in healthy eating and healthy portions early in the morning. But sometime after supper, cravings hit that continue literally right until I go to bed. I once tried a popular "meat only" diet for about 12 hours five years ago. I felt weak and actually even began to feel ill towards the end - right before I wolfed down massive quantities of carbohydrates! In short, I have no problem feeding my physical body on a regular basis; whether it needs it or not!
All this leads me to speculate - how much would our spiritual life prosper if we "fed" it as much as we feed our physical bodies? Matthew 4:4 seems to say that as Christians, we find, maintain, and sustain our spiritual life through the Word of God. What would happen if we chose not to eat or drink until we had spent equal time feasting on the Word of God? A former pastor of mine used to say - "No Bible, no breakfast. No Love Letter, no lunch, No Scripture, no supper." I don't know whether he actually lived by that, but… wow - what if we did?
We make time for food in our daily schedules - if we did not, we would be hungry; get weak; starve; and ultimately die. Therefore, we make physical nutrition a high priority. Why, then, do we not do the same with our spiritual health when the Bible clearly states that there is a corollary that exists between physical food and spiritual food? Isn't it equally true that if we do not "feed" on the Word of God that we get spiritually hungry; we become spiritually weak; and we suffer spiritual starvation? Is it going too far to say that without regularly coming to the "Bread of Life" and the "Living Water", we ultimately die, spiritually-speaking?
I don't think so. In fact, if I understand my Bible correctly, this is exactly the way that people become apostate (fall away from God) and ultimately find themselves living apart from His grace. My experience tells me that for most, this is a gradual "slipping"; a stair-step process that gently erodes away at their soul until they no longer have any real relationship with the Savior. He becomes a distant memory; an echo of a time when they were once "closer to God".
I know this is getting long, but bear with me - we're coming in for the home stretch.
What if instead we got literal in our understanding of Matthew 4:4? I wonder how much more spiritually healthy I would be if I devoted at least the same amount of time in filling up on spiritual food (personal prayer and Bible study) as I do on physical food? I estimate that I spend (on average) around 15 minutes each day "actually" eating (i.e. not preparing, waiting on, or cleaning up afterwards, but actually eating) breakfast and lunch, and around 30 minutes "actually" eating supper. Man. What would happen if just before each meal, I devoted the same amount of time giving my soul spiritual nutrition? How would life be different if I was as hungry for the things of God as I am for the physical appetites?
Would I behave differently? Would I think differently? Would I respond differently? I think that surely I would. In fact, I suspect that I would be healthier spiritually if I took Matthew 4:4 to heart and was just as concerned about filling my soul as I am my body. I suspect that others around me would, too.
Pastor Howie
Matthew 4:4 (NIV)
I get hungry, especially late at night. I can do well nutritionally-speaking from the hours of 6:30am - 6:30pm, and would even go so far as to say I excel in healthy eating and healthy portions early in the morning. But sometime after supper, cravings hit that continue literally right until I go to bed. I once tried a popular "meat only" diet for about 12 hours five years ago. I felt weak and actually even began to feel ill towards the end - right before I wolfed down massive quantities of carbohydrates! In short, I have no problem feeding my physical body on a regular basis; whether it needs it or not!
All this leads me to speculate - how much would our spiritual life prosper if we "fed" it as much as we feed our physical bodies? Matthew 4:4 seems to say that as Christians, we find, maintain, and sustain our spiritual life through the Word of God. What would happen if we chose not to eat or drink until we had spent equal time feasting on the Word of God? A former pastor of mine used to say - "No Bible, no breakfast. No Love Letter, no lunch, No Scripture, no supper." I don't know whether he actually lived by that, but… wow - what if we did?
We make time for food in our daily schedules - if we did not, we would be hungry; get weak; starve; and ultimately die. Therefore, we make physical nutrition a high priority. Why, then, do we not do the same with our spiritual health when the Bible clearly states that there is a corollary that exists between physical food and spiritual food? Isn't it equally true that if we do not "feed" on the Word of God that we get spiritually hungry; we become spiritually weak; and we suffer spiritual starvation? Is it going too far to say that without regularly coming to the "Bread of Life" and the "Living Water", we ultimately die, spiritually-speaking?
I don't think so. In fact, if I understand my Bible correctly, this is exactly the way that people become apostate (fall away from God) and ultimately find themselves living apart from His grace. My experience tells me that for most, this is a gradual "slipping"; a stair-step process that gently erodes away at their soul until they no longer have any real relationship with the Savior. He becomes a distant memory; an echo of a time when they were once "closer to God".
I know this is getting long, but bear with me - we're coming in for the home stretch.
What if instead we got literal in our understanding of Matthew 4:4? I wonder how much more spiritually healthy I would be if I devoted at least the same amount of time in filling up on spiritual food (personal prayer and Bible study) as I do on physical food? I estimate that I spend (on average) around 15 minutes each day "actually" eating (i.e. not preparing, waiting on, or cleaning up afterwards, but actually eating) breakfast and lunch, and around 30 minutes "actually" eating supper. Man. What would happen if just before each meal, I devoted the same amount of time giving my soul spiritual nutrition? How would life be different if I was as hungry for the things of God as I am for the physical appetites?
Would I behave differently? Would I think differently? Would I respond differently? I think that surely I would. In fact, I suspect that I would be healthier spiritually if I took Matthew 4:4 to heart and was just as concerned about filling my soul as I am my body. I suspect that others around me would, too.
"Father God, I want to understand what Matthew 4:4 really means. Cause my spiritual appetites and desires to equal, and even exceed those of my physical ones. Help me to get on a regular diet of healthy spiritual endeavors that fill and satisfy the soul!
In Jesus' Name - AMEN!"
Pastor Howie
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