Not Bread Alone

The gate was open to our backyard and I was pruning a grape vine on a ladder. I came down from the ladder and at my feet was a pretty Rhode Island Red hen. Searching the neighborhood I could not find any chickens, so I have had "Clucky" for three years now. I feed her every day, but sometimes food is not enough. She likes my being around, scratching and digging by me as I rake leaves.  Our Bible passage is when Jesus was being tempted by the devil after a forty day fast.

Luke 4:1  And Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness 

Luke 4:2  for forty days, being tempted by the devil. And he ate nothing during those days. And when they were ended, he was hungry. 

Luke 4:3  The devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread.” 

Luke 4:4  And Jesus answered him, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone.’” 

Jesus, being the Son of God could have turned the stone into bread. Later he would miraculously feed the five thousand. But this was the devil trying to tell Jesus what to do.  He was not to serve the evil one.  Jesus said "It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone."  Eating together with friends is satisfying the soul that needs fellowship with others, but not with evil. One thing that Covid has done is to isolate people. We need good fellowship, loving one another. We are to avoid evil.

Eph 5:15  So be very careful how you live. Live wisely, not like fools. 

Eph 5:16  I mean that you should use every opportunity you have for doing good, because these are evil times.

Food alone is not enough. We are body, soul and spirit. The spirit hungers for the things of God. The soul and spirit continue after the death of the body.  We are to trust Jesus for eternal life with him.  He came to seek and to save that which was lost.  Saving souls from the devil was the spiritual food that Jesus had.  Later he would explain to the Samaritan woman:

John 4:24  God is spirit. So the people who worship him must worship in spirit and truth." 

John 4:25  The woman said, "I know that the Messiah is coming." (He is the one called Christ.) "When he comes, he will explain everything to us." 

Joh 4:26  Then Jesus said, "He is talking to you now—I am the Messiah." 

When his disciples brought him food he explained about his spiritual food.

John 4:32  But Jesus answered, "I have food to eat that you know nothing about." 

John 4:33  So the followers asked themselves, "Did someone already bring him some food?" 

John 4:34  Jesus said, "My food is to do what the one who sent me wants me to do. My food is to finish the work that he gave me to do. 

The soul and spirit seek the love that only God can give.  He has given a purpose for us to do.

 “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone.’”