«Blessed are those who hear the word of God and keep it!» (Luke 11:28).
WHEN «THE DEVIL CAME tempting» Jesus (Matthew 4:3, NLV), the Master defended Himself from the devil’s temptations by replying, “The Scriptures say» (NLT), or as many other versions translate is written.» With this He left us a very clear message: His faith, His strength, and His power came from the knowledge of the Father’s will, learned through reading the Scriptures. In His case, it was the Old Testament; in our case, we are blessed to have the New Testament as well. Perhaps our lack of commitment to reading the Bible explains why so many times we fail to overcome certain temptations.
First John 5:4 says: «For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith»; a faith that is founded on and developed through the reading of the Holy Scriptures, for «faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God» (Romans 10:17). This, too, perhaps explains why sometimes, in the face of certain difficulties in life, we lack faith and lose hope.
I think it is good to analyze to what we dedicate our time when we are not busy attending to our family, our house, our work, and our church. What is more, I think it is good to analyze whether perhaps the hours we devote to looking after these things are well distributed from the standpoint of our eternal interests. decision cannot be postponed: we have to devote time to reading and studying the Word of God. There is no other way to become successful Christian women.
When faced with the first temptation, Jesus answered, «It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God'» (Matthew 4:4), implying that physical death is preferable to departing from the will of God as expressed in His Word. Physical bread, without the knowledge of God, leads to eternal death; however, knowing and putting into practice the will of God, even when we lack physical bread, leads to eternal life. And where does that knowledge come from?
It comes from the daily, consistent, and thoughtful reading of the Bible, the source of true wisdom, which is the fear of the Lord (see Proverbs 1:7). Do not neglect it.