The first temptation that Jesus faced in Matthew 4 appears to be about bread, but the reality is that the temptation to turn stones into bread was much more than that. From this temptation comes all sexual sin, all greed, all gluttony, all manipulation, all control and all selfishness. This is the temptation to give our appetites, wants and perceived needs control of our lives rather than trusting our Father to control the provision of everything that we have need of.
Have you ever considered the precedent that it would have set for Jesus’ life if He had listened to Satan’s taunts and turned the stones to bread? If, in the midst of His hunger He would have taken it upon Himself to provide what would He have done in the midst of rejection, or false accusation or even arrest and crucifixion? If Jesus had provided food for Himself would He have also been tempted to provide for His own escape in Gethsemane? Would He have been willing to call a legion of angels to come and save Him from the cross? Would He have wept over Jerusalem or destroyed it?
Temptation happens in the present but it is always about our future. Jacob tempted Esau to trade the future of himself, his children and every generation after them for a bowl of stew during a moment of hunger. Esau thought this was an opportunity to quench his desire but it was actually a temptation to give away his position as the first-born son. Israel thought running out of food was a problem they had to solve and they longed to run back to Egypt where the food was plentiful even if life was miserable. The temptation was to trade the promises and power and presence of God for full stomachs with no concern for what or when they would eat. They were willing to be unloved and well-fed rather than loved and hungry.
Your temptations, no matter what they are today, are not simply about this moment, they are an effort of your enemy to rob you of your future. Esau and Israel teach us that Satan isn’t just trying to take your future, he wants the future of the generations that come after you. I challenge you today, don’t allow your hunger, or your want or your need to lead you to places where you trade the future for a moment of satisfaction. Jesus taught us by His refusal to make bread for Himself that even if we hunger for bread, we are only truly sustained by trust in and obedience to “every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.”