Not By Bread Alone

Back at it after a day off the blog yesterday, and on the heels of an enjoyable weekend. Got in some good fitness this weekend, including my longest run to date on Saturday (5 miles in just under 47 minutes) and a Tucker-special cardio killer yesterday--too long to explain here, so let's just say it was rigorous. That guy is a heck of a programmer and does some beastly stuff.

Also a very good weekend of taking in some excellent basketball. Congrats to the Blueboys on a much-needed road win at Lake Forest, one of the Midwest Conference's toughest road venues--first IC win there since 2001. Blueboys bombed in 16 3's--it was fun to watch. Also took in the epic Butler-Gonzaga game, a highly billed matchup that lived up to the hype for sure. Nothing mid-major about those two teams--a couple of heavy hitters right there.

Undertaking a sunrise to sunset fast today (the first of what will become a Monday tradition for me for the foreseeable future), and it led me to this morning's verse:

"Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God." --Matthew 4:4

This verse has put a lot on my heart, so I'll try to go in a reasonable order. First, the context: Jesus was hungry after fasting forty days and nights, and so Satan tempts him by telling him that if he is the Son of God, he should prove it by turning stones into bread. To which Jesus responded with the words above. The teaching points are these:

• Jesus was armed with and used the word of God in response to being tempted. Knowing and studying God's word helps to arm us in the face of temptation.
• God's word is used in the context of supplementing our need to eat here, but I think can be applied to multiple examples of helping to sustain our lives in all instances where we might be lacking something we otherwise think we can't live without (approval, affection, and so on).

Food is a very personal issue with me; it has been a master of my life at several times, and occasionally still is. I am looking forward to using these intermittent fasts to put God in control over that. In addition, fasting has some major health benefits that I will share here at some point soon. My prayer is that I would rely on God through prayer and meditation as a substitute for solid food today.

And this will be a springboard from some other thoughts I have on fasting in general, so more to come on that in future posts. Bundle up, everyone--it's cold out there today...