Steady Stream

My mother used to say, I’m so hungry that I’m about to cave in!  We’d laugh and tease her about her words.  But now, years later, I realize I often experience this same feeling.  I'm hungry for a food that eludes me, I too feel that I may cave in!

Today, we again return to the desert.  The desert is hot, unrelenting in sun exposure, sandy and uncomfortable to say the least.  Our eyes are struggling to see through the glare, our bodies are sunburnt and aching, the exhaustion is real.  And the desert nights are almost too cool, and frightening as the silence is overbearing and only broken by the howls of wildlife and stealthy critters that stir the sand around us.  After two weeks in the desert of Lent 2024, are you thirsty or hungry yet?  Are you about to cave in?

     And He had fasted for forty days and forty nights, and that left     him, of course, in a state of extreme hunger, which the Devil took advantage of in the first test: “Since you are God’s Son, speak the word that will turn these stones into loaves of bread.”

     Jesus answered by quoting Deuteronomy: “It takes more than bread to stay alive. It takes a steady  stream of words from God’s mouth. “  Matthew 4:2-4, Modern English Version and The Message

How good would bread have tasted after 40 days?  Yet, food was not His greatest need.  Satan implies that what Jesus needed most was food, nourishment, and satisfaction of hunger.  And certainly, He did need food in that moment!  For most of us reading these words, we are not hungry physically.  But aren't we hungry in other ways?  Don't we actively seek other things to fill us up?  What is our food choice of 2024?

Many of us have heard the verse from Matthew quoted for years and may have quoted it ourselves.  But, we quote the top half of the verse in this translation, “One does not live by bread alone.”  But it is the bottom halve that reveals the truth, “It takes more than bread to stay alive. It takes a steady stream of words from God’s mouth.”  Not just one word but a steady stream.  Constant and moving words. What steady stream of words have your attention?  

Do you pay the most attention to the false messages of, “I’m not enough, I’m not smart enough, I’m not talented enough?” Are these words your steady stream? Or are you replaying old messages from your parents, your bosses’ words at your last review, the harsh words of your children, the words, and pictures from Instagram, or from the nightly news?  What steady stream is feeding you?  If all we are eating are these words, we will certainly cave in!  What bread are you choosing to eat when another feast awaits?

Have you heard the steady stream of words from God about you? 

You are never alone

You are valuable

You are not condemned

You are God’s masterpiece

You are known

You are loved.

We weren’t meant to live in the desert, but short visits can be awakening.  Awaken to the food God is offering, the true fulfilling bread and steady stream.