But [Jesus] answered and said, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.’”
Matthew 4:4
Recommended Reading: John 8:43-44
Imagine it’s your first day at work in a new corporate job. A fellow employee greets you and gives you some free employee guidance: park your car wherever you like, take your lunch hour whenever you get hungry, dress however you like, and come and leave on your own schedule. Once you go through new employee orientation, you realize you were duped—all the previous advice was wrong. But how were you to have known? You didn’t know any better.
Something similar happened to Adam and Eve in the garden (bad advice) and later to Jesus in the wilderness. Jesus was approached by Satan three times with temptations (Matthew 4:1-11). But unlike the new employee, Jesus knew better—He had read the “handbook”! With each temptation—based on a twisted rendering of God’s words—Jesus answered with the truth from Scripture. Knowing he was defeated, the devil left Him alone (Luke 4:13).
The only way to defeat the lies and counterfeits of Satan is to know the truth. Begin or continue your daily intake of God’s Word in order to tell truth from error.
So the real question confronting you now is: How can you afford not to be in God’s Word.
Howard Hendricks