One of my favorite verse in all of Scripture is uttered by Christ during His temptation (Matt 4). After forty days of fasting and prayer, Jesus is hungry and tired. It is at this moment that Satan comes to Jesus and tempts Him, attacking His flesh, His power, and His loyalty. As for attacking Jesus' flesh, Satan knows that Jesus is hungry and he challenges Jesus to command the stones to turn into bread. Jesus' response:
"Man shall not live on bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God."
While this may seem like a simple response to the temptations of Satan, it is quite dense with theological weight and lovely revelation.
In the first, it asserts that there is a distinct qualitative value between anything fleshly and the things of God–there is really no comparison.
In the second, Jesus' statement points to the reality that despite man's inclination to feed the soul through the belly, it is God who truly feeds us with the sustenance of eternity.
While there is so much more to be said about this single verse, it would suffice to say that when we feel the hungry voices of our bellies trying to pull us away from God in any way whatsoever, we have an example to follow in Jesus' words here to Satan. Thank God for that!
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