But He answered and said, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God’” (Matthew 4:4).

Who remembers AWANA?  You know, the ministry whose mission it is to reach children with the Gospel. AWANA is an acronym for Approved Workman Are Not Ashamed based on 2 Timothy 2:15. This verse exhorts us to be “​​a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.” The ministry seeks to help children around the world learn how to be followers of Jesus and to hide God’s Word in their heart through learning the story of God and Scripture memory. 

I volunteered as an AWANA helper in the classroom when our sons were little. The first activity of the evening was to give the children an opportunity to recite their memory verse for the week. Once the children completed this, they received the coveted “AWANA Bucks” which could be redeemed for prizes. 

In those days, I was a new believer learning God’s Word right along with our sons. To aid in our memorization we’d sometimes enlist the help of a little jingle, other times I’d paste notecards with the week’s verse around the house or we’d practice in the car on the way to school. Together we learned the importance of hiding God’s Word in our hearts. 

This week we read in Matthew 4:1-11, that Jesus is led by the Spirit into the desert for forty days and nights. He is hungry and presumably in a physically weakened state. It is at this point the devil seeks to tempt Jesus’s human nature. 

Three different times, the devil distorts the truth of God’s Word to entice Jesus to sin against the Father. (This has been the enemy’s scheme since he tempted Adam and Eve in the garden.) However, each time Jesus responds, “It is written.” He pulls strength from what God has said in His written Word and three times rebukes the enemy.

Satan will distort the truth to tempt us to sin against the Father. When we do as Jesus did and speak the truth of God to the lie, we have the power of God to overcome temptation.

What are ways that you have found helpful to hide God’s Word in your heart? What are some of the verses God has used to help you in your time of testing, trial or even triumph? Consider sharing one of those verses with a friend this week!