My children and I are reading devotionals every morning for the season of Lent. One of our most recent readings was the story of Jesus being tempted by Satan in the wilderness.

The girls were intrigued at how Jesus responded to Satan every time, resisting him with the Word of God. We’ve been having lots of great theological conversations and arguments lately and Grace brought up the question, “Why would God the Father allow Satan to be able to tempt Jesus in the desert like that?”

I have learned to often answer their questions with “Well, why do you think?,” which is exactly what I said. After some deliberation, Grace decided that God the Father knew that Jesus would do the right thing – that He could handle being tempted.

I affirmed her thoughts and shared with them how because Jesus embodied the Word and knew His Father’s will, He was able to resist Satan. He was also able to go 40 days without eating, stating to Satan that “Man does not live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.”

We all know that we need food and water to survive, but Jesus tells us here that there is something we need even more. The Word of God. The Bible.

Job said basically the same thing as Jesus did, “I have not departed from the commandment of his lips; I have treasured the words of his mouth more than my portion of food.“(Job 23:12).

The longest Psalm in the Bible, Psalm 119, is all about loving the law of The Lord – and that did not include the New Testament, mind you. The author was talking about books like Leviticus 🙂

There are places in this world where the Bible is outlawed. It’s dangerous because when people read it, believe it, and apply it, they are transformed and societies begin to change.

Some of these precious believers may only have one Bible for an entire community to share and they treat it as their most precious possession. I have more than a dozen Bibles in my home of different translations that I can read or study at any time, without any worry or fear that they will be confiscated or that anything will happen to me or my family because of our choice to read them.

When I consider all of this, it leads me to ask myself some questions: Do I treasure God’s Word more than my daily food? Do I view God’s Word as my one real “necessity” even above my material needs for food and clothing?

My pastor, Stuart McAlpine, did a series on the Psalms in 2013. He spent a considerable amount of time in Psalm 1 which reads:

He challenged our congregation by asking us to consider this question:  If your physical health was determined by how much you feasted on God’s Word (or didn’t) how healthy would you be? Would you be thriving? Barely surviving? Emaciated?

Reading the Bible isn’t always soothing. I’m often comforted by the Bible but I am also often challenged and convicted. It’s not a “quick and easy read.” Because it’s a sword that cuts, revealing to us who we really are. And sometimes that’s not pretty. But this is precisely why we need it.

This Lent, I am asking God to give me a greater hunger for His Word. Because without it, I am powerless and spiritually emaciated. Without it, I am empty and dry. Without it, I can remain blind to my sins. Without it, I cannot grow and thrive spiritually.

I pray that you, too, would grow in your hunger for that Book which will truly fill your soul and spirit with truth, goodness, mercy, and love…that only Book which contains the words of eternal life.

Photo of Bible by Melissa J