TwentyEight - Day 4

Read Matthew 4.

Take a closer look at verses 2-3. "After fasting 40 days and 40 nights, [Jesus] was hungry." You don't say! "[Satan] came to [Jesus] and said, "If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread." There are a couple of things here we should pay close attention to. First, Jesus fasted for 40 days and 40 nights. That's a long time. By general rule of thumb, one can survive 3 minutes without air, 3 days without water, and 3 weeks without food. Obviously, that's not always true. Plenty of poeple suffocated in less than 3 minutes, dehydrated in less than three days suffered malnutrition in less than three weeks. Likewise, plenty of people have survived longer without air, water and food. Many people, like Jesus, have done 30-40 day fasts. So, it's not impossible. And, it didn't require a miracle to accomplish. Still, He was, no doubt, very hungry at the end of that time period.

Notice, THAT is when Satan came to tempt Jesus. When he was most vulnerable. When He may not have been thinking clearly. When everything in His earthly body was screaming, "YOU MUST EAT NOW!" In the same way, that is when Satan tempts us. When we are most vulnerable. Maybe when we're tired or not thinking clearly. When our emotions are at a peak. When he knows that everything in our earthly body is screaming, "DO THIS!" That is when He comes along and say, "Try this. It's OK. It won't hurt you. Just this once..."

In those moments, we need to FOLLOW Jesus' example and resist the devil. James 4:7 says, "Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you." There is an order there that must be FOLLOWED. FIRST, we must submit to God. SECOND, we must resist the devil. If we don't FOLLOW step 1, we CAN'T follow step 2. Know the Word. Meditate on it. Use it in resisting "the tempter" this week.