God’s Word, Your Weapon

Today’s passage is Luke 4:1-13.  Let’s go!

Luke 4:1-13 (NIV) 
¹  Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the desert,
²  where for forty days he was tempted by the devil. He ate nothing during those days, and at the end of them he was hungry.
³  The devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread.”
⁴  Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man does not live on bread alone.'”
⁵  The devil led him up to a high place and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world.
⁶  And he said to him, “I will give you all their authority and splendor, for it has been given to me, and I can give it to anyone I want to.
⁷  So if you worship me, it will all be yours.”
⁸  Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God and serve him only.'”
⁹  The devil led him to Jerusalem and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down from here.
¹⁰  For it is written: “‘He will command his angels concerning you to guard you carefully;
¹¹  they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.'”
¹²  Jesus answered, “It says: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.'”
¹³  When the devil had finished all this tempting, he left him until an opportune time.

On verses 1-13:  After having been baptized in the Jordan River, Jesus is led into the desert where he is tempted by the devil for 40 days.  Notice that each time Jesus is tempted by the devil, Jesus fights back by quoting Scripture.  In response to the devil’s first temptation Jesus quotes Deuteronomy 8:3 in the Old Testament.  In response to the devil’s second temptation Jesus quotes Deuteronomy 6:13.  In response to the devil’s third temptation Jesus quotes Deuteronomy 6:16.  What is Jesus doing?  In response to each specific temptation he faces, Jesus recites a verse from Scripture that helps him to do the right thing in that situation.  In all likelihood Jesus is reciting these verses from memory, since the only place you could read a copy of Scripture back in Jesus’ time was in the synagogue.

Because Jesus had the habit of storing up the word of God in his heart, Jesus was equipped and ready to fight the devil when temptation attacks came.

What can we learn from this?  From time to time you and I will be tempted to do what we know deep down to be the wrong thing.  Our most important weapon in our fight against temptation is the word of God.  When we store up the word of God in our heart, we’ll be quicker to discern when temptation comes, quicker to know what the right thing is to do, and more able to do the right thing.

It’s no wonder that the word of God is also called “the sword of the Spirit” (see Ephesians 6:17).  It’s because the word of God is your weapon against temptation.

As Psalm 1:1-3 says:

¹  Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers.
²  But his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night.
³  He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers.

So take the time to hear, read, study, meditate, memorize and apply God’s word to your life regularly.  Every day allow God’s Word to renew your thoughts and your attitude.  When you do, you will be better equipped to fight temptation when it comes and to live the victorious, peace-filled life God made you to live.

That’s just the beginning, but there is so much more we can learn from this passage.  I can’t wait to share the rest with you at a THRIVE Sunday service today.  Hope to see you there!

Heavenly Father, thank You for Your Word which is my weapon against temptation.  I pray for all of my friends reading this GAME sharing today.  May we delight in Your Word, meditate on it day and night, and find all the joy, peace, hope, wisdom and strength we need to live life to its fullest as You intended.  In Jesus’ name I pray, AMEN!