“Jesus answered, it is written….” (Matthew 4:4, 7, 10)

I don’t enjoy exercising, have never felt that “runner’s high,” but I know I need to exercise for its benefits. Discipline is tough but pays off in other ways, too: healthy eating, productive study habits, financial budgeting. What about spiritual disciplines or habits, such as daily devotional time, a Bible reading schedule, scripture memorization? They all take dedication and discipline (exercise, if you will) to produce benefits. 

Physical exercise produces endurance, so when I need to sprint after a grandchild and stay active with him for two hours, I can because I have reserves to draw on.  Satan worked on a famished Jesus, presuming He’d be too hungry to resist. After all, making Himself some food sounds innocent enough. Jesus has reserves, though - the bread of the Word - and He is quick to feast on Scripture as he shuns the temptation: “Man shall not live by bread alone…” (v.4). If I must take time to consider whether a temptation is a sin or not because I don’t have a reserve of Scripture ready, the temptation will succeed. I need to have feasted on the Word well enough to spot the temptation for the sin it’s drawing me into and say no right away. 

Physical exercise strengthens me. When I need to lift my heavy bag into the overhead compartment, I can. Jesus was alone and hungry when Satan came to Him. Thinking He is weakened and vulnerable, Satan urges Jesus to jumpstart His agenda: If you are the Son of God, take the acclaim You’re due right now and in Your own way (4:6-9, my paraphrase). Jesus stops him with scripture: “it is written...it is written...it is written.” I’m not sure Jesus intended the Words to intimidate Satan, but His fasting from physical food has redirected His energies to the spiritual strengthening the Word gives. Jesus’s temptations were real; so are ours. Can I stop that voice questioning my identity - how can God love me, with all my flaws? - with “It is written….”? The more I know some verses and can say them back to the Tempter, the stronger I will become. 

If exercise is a drudgery or scripture memorization a chore, it’ll get done, but I haven't invested or pushed myself. Thus, I’ll never fully appropriate their benefits. I will miss the tree for the leaves in both cases. I don’t want to memorize just because someone told me I had to. I’ll never see the beauty of the verses that way, because Scripture is more than words. True, those verses might become a rote memory, but they won’t be life-giving bread. 

Read, study, meditate, memorize - exercise whatever method works best for you to create space for God to work. Let the Word strengthen your spirit and give you endurance for the day you’re facing. It's the key to victory over temptation.