Matthew 4:3

Now when the tempter came to Him, he said, ‘If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread. – Matthew 4:3

How many of us are easily tempted by food? I have noticed something interesting every time I set my heart to fast, suddenly people start offering me food or inviting me out to eat for free. Is that just coincidence? or is it temptation? And to be honest, there have been moments when I have given in and completely forgotten that I was fasting until the Holy Spirit reminded me. Have you experienced the same thing? How weak we can be when it comes to food!

When the Scriptures say, “when the tempter came to Him,” notice that word “when,” not “if.” When speaks of certainty. It tells us that temptation is not a possibility but a matter of time. It will come, the only unknown is the timing. as it is written,“Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.” The devil is not passive. he is not sleeping. he is always watching, always seeking, always waiting for the moment to tempt for he is a tempter that his identity.

But if speaks only of possibility something that may or may not happen. And to imagine that we might live untouched by temptation is to believe a lie. As Spurgeon said, “God had one Son without sin, but He never had a son without temptation.” If Jesus was tempted, we will be tempted. Temptation is certain for every child of God. As Peter also warns us, to be sober and be vigilant. For the enemy is always seeking an open door. Therefore we must not be filled with dissipation, but filled with the Holy Spirit, for only the Spirit of God can truly sober our minds. And to be vigilant means we cannot afford to slumber or sleep, we must stay awake, watchful, and alert. This is why the Lord Jesus taught us to pray, “Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.” He calls us to pray to God at all times, because He knows how weak our flesh can be, even when the spirit within us is willing.

When the Scripture says, “If You are the Son of God,” we understand that the word if speaks of possibility or condition, not certainty. This reveals one of the enemy’s first tactics to stir unbelief within us. We see this same pattern in the garden. The serpent said to Eve, “Has God indeed said…?” (Genesis 3:1), planting doubt in her heart. Then he followed with a direct contradiction of God’s Word: “You will not surely die” (Genesis 3:4). And the Words of God warns us again and again about the danger of unbelief. The Israelites could not enter the Promised Land “because of unbelief” (Hebrews 3:19). Even in Revelation, the Lord lists the unbelieving among those who will have no part in His Kingdom: “But the cowardly, unbelieving… shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone” (Revelation 21:8).

This is why satan so often attacks us with doubt because if he can get us to doubt the Word of God, it becomes easy for him to lead us astray. That is exactly what happened to Eve, and the result was the fall of all humanity. The enemy has not changed his tactics, he still seeks to shake our assurance in what God has spoken over us. satan loves to target our identity. If he can confuse who we are, he can influence how we live. But our identity does not come from feelings, circumstances, failures, culture, or even our family background. Our identity comes from God alone. And when you know who you are in Him, the lies of the enemy lose their power.

And this is why Jesus answered him, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God’” (Matthew 4:4). Jesus teaching us how extremely important for every Christian to be filled with the Word of God. Physical food keeps our bodies alive, however spiritual food, which is the Word of God, keeps our spirit strong and alive. As Jesus said, “The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life” (John 6:63). This is why we must continually feed on God’s Word, because it shapes our thoughts, strengthens our faith, and keeps our hearts aligned with His truth.

satan says	GOD says
“You are worthless.”	“Since you were precious in My sight, You have been honored, And I have loved you…”— Isaiah 43:4
“You are ugly.”	“I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Marvelous are Your works, And that my soul knows very well.”— Psalm 139:14   “So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.”— Genesis 1:27
“Your identity is whatever you feel.”	“So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.”— Genesis 1:27
“You are a failure. “ “You will never change.”	“And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.” Romans 8:28 “But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.” Romans 8:11
“God is done with you.”	“…He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ.”— Philippians 1:6
“You are unforgivable.”	“There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.”— Romans 8:1
“You are alone. No one cares.”	“For He Himself has said, ‘I will never leave you nor forsake you.’”— Hebrews 13:5
“You will always live in fear.”	“For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.”— 2 Timothy 1:7
“You cannot overcome temptation.”	“No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.”— 1 Corinthians 10:13
“You are not really God’s child.”	“Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God!”— 1 John 3:1

The Word of God is not only His commandments showing us how to live rightly. It is also filled with His love for us and His adoration toward His children. It is filled with His promises, His plans, and His purposes for our lives. The Scriptures reveal God’s heart and His faithfulness, and they declare who we are in Him. When we continually feed on God’s Word, we grow strong, we become firmly rooted, and we walk in the truth of our identity as God’s people.

When the Scriptures say, “Command that these stones become bread,” we see that satan has moved from questioning Jesus’ identity to attacking His dependence on the Father’s will. First the enemy said, “If You are the Son of God,” attempting to stir doubt about who Jesus is. Now he challenges Jesus to act outside of God’s timing and God’s direction. This is the same tactic he used with Eve. The serpent said, “You will not surely die,” directly attacking what God had spoken. His goal was not only to plant doubt in Eve’s heart but also to push her to act independently of God’s will which she did. satan always targets God’s Word and God’s will, because once he gets a christian to question what God has said, it becomes easier for him to lead that believer into disobedience.

At first glance, this temptation does not sound like an invitation to sin. Bread is good, fruit is good, and God created food to satisfy our hunger. Food itself is not evil. However, living for food is wrong. Many Christians today struggle in this area. Surveys even show that many christians are overweight, yet we often forget that when we received the LORD Jesus into our lives, Scripture teaches that it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in us. We also forget that our bodies are the temple of God. It is not about what we think is good, but about what God says.

On the surface, there seems to be nothing sinful about turning stones into bread. Many Christians think the same way about food. Yet this is part of the devil’s deceptions. satan told to the LORD Jesus to turn stones into loaves of bread if He was the Son of God. satan was not only targeting the LORD Jesus’ identity as the Son of God. He was attempting something far deeper and far more dangerous. He was daring the LORD Jesus to step outside the will of the Father and use His divine power to satisfy His hunger without God’s direction. In other words, Satan tempted the LORD Jesus to act independently from the Father. His message was subtle but deadly, “Since You are the Son of God, You deserve this. You should do as You please, when You please, especially if it is something good and harmless like food.” How often do we think the same way? We say, “I deserve this,” even though our blood sugar is rising, our cholesterol is climbing, and our blood pressure is out of control. We justify our cravings rather than submit them to God.

Scripture teaches us that even a child is subject to the Father. Being children of God does not give us permission to live outside His will. Our lives must reflect the will of our Heavenly Father. Jesus Himself modeled this for us when He said, “The Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He sees the Father do” (John 5:19). And again, Scripture says, “Now when all things are made subject to Him, then the Son Himself will also be subject to Him who put all things under Him, that God may be all in all” (1 Corinthians 15:28). Jesus demonstrated to us that a true child of God walks in complete dependence and obedience to the Father. This is why Paul writes, “For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God” (Romans 8:14). We are called to be led by God, not to drive our own lives. A child does not guide the Father; the Father guides the child. And in the same way, our lives must be submitted to His leading in every area.

The LORD Jesus also knew that the will of the Father led Him into the wilderness. He understood it was the will of the Father for Him to face this temptation in a moment of extreme weakness after fasting for forty days and forty nights (Hebrews 2:17–18). The LORD Jesus fully understood that His mission on earth was not to do whatever He chose. Do we have this same mindset? Paul did. He said, “But none of these things move me, nor do I count my life dear to myself, so that I may finish my race with joy and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus” (Acts 20:24). Paul understood what The LORD Jesus understood, it is not about us anymore. It is about the will of God for our lives. We are commanded to set our minds on things above, not on things on the earth.

Even when something appears reasonable, or good, or harmless, if it is not directed by the Father, it is still disobedience. Scripture makes this truth unmistakably clear. King Saul practiced partial obedience, and God rejected him as king. The Israelites, when they were possessing the Promised Land, also repeatedly walked in partial obedience and suffered the consequences. Even Ananias and Sapphira in the book of Acts faced judgment because they pretended to obey God while holding back what they had promised in the presence of God. We are commanded to live and walk in the Holy Spirit, because where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is life and liberty. As it is written, “All things are lawful for me, but all things are not helpful. All things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the power of any” (1 Corinthians 6:12). And again, “All things are lawful for me, but not all things are helpful; all things are lawful for me, but not all things edify” (1 Corinthians 10:23).

The mission of The LORD Jesus was to do only what the Father commanded, only what the Father revealed, and only what pleased the Father’s heart. This temptation was never truly about bread. It was about obedience. It was about dependence. It was about whether we would live by our Father’s will or by our own will.

And The LORD Jesus demonstrated that true life, true strength, and true victory do not come from meeting physical needs first. They come from submitting to every word that comes from the mouth of God. This is how we are called to live. We are commanded to love the Lord our God with all our heart, meaning every desire should be to please God; with all our mind, meaning our plans should align with His plans; with all our strength, meaning everything we do should be for His glory; and with all our soul, meaning our deepest longing is to spend eternity with Him. God must always be first.