March 3 Daily Devotional

Bible Reading

Devotional

Here is the record of the devil's meeting with the King of Israel. The battle is on. The stakes are "all the kingdoms of the world and their splen­dor" (Matt. 4:8). The absolute rulership of the world is in the balance.

However, the battle is not to be fought by pitching power against power. The test is obedience. God's kingdom comes when God's will is done. The devil is conquered when the Father is obeyed.

The devil has been very successful in seducing humankind. Adam failed his Maker. Israel too failed the test. The forty years in the wilder­ness had but one purpose: God "tested" them to see whether they would keep his commandments or not. He "humbled" them and fed them with manna to show them that "people do not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the lord" (Deut. 8:3).

This remains a basic test for all God's children. All of us must learn that we don't yet have life when we have something to put into our mouths. We live only when we trust and obey what comes out of the mouth of the Lord.

Now Jesus follows the same course Israel took as he attends the school of God. He walks the way God's people walked. For forty days Jesus wanders through the wilderness. Then the tempter comes. "First things first," the devil says. "You need to eat. If you are the Son of God, have the Father prepare a table before you. Command these stones to become loaves of bread."

But Jesus is not going to use his power to save his life. He is going to use this power to be obedient unto death. Therefore he says: "Even if my Father wants me to go hungry, I will obey." It is better to be obedient and go hungry than to have bread and sin.

REFLECTIONS

How might the last line of this reading apply to your life today?

Andrew Kuyvenhoven's Daylight, a modern devotional classic, was originally published by Paideia Press in 1977. This updated edition is copyright 2009 by Faith Alive Christian Resources. You can order a copy of this revised version of the book directly from the publisher.

A man of many accomplishments, Andrew Kuyvenhoven is probably best known for his contributions to Today (formerly The Family Altar), a widely-used monthly devotional booklet associated with the Back to God Hour. Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations for this updated edition of Daylight are from the Holy Bible: Today's New International Version copyright 2001, 2005 by the International Bible Society.