Word power versus will power.
I’ve heard of that a lot of times as a Christ-follower, but sometimes, I subtly shift to the will-power mode when facing tasks or challenges in life.
Ahh, will power. Like any human being, we all tend to “will” our way to victory when challenges, tests or trials surround us like a huge army.
The sad fact is, no matter how hard we try to “will” our way to victory, we just can’t win at all.
Our battles against lust for example, is a classic case of “you-can’t-will-your-way-to-victory”.
When Jesus was tempted in the desert after fasting for 40 days, the devil threw his own temptation jabs, but each time, Jesus retaliated by declaring the word of God.
Take a look at Matthew 4 in Jesus’ encounter with the devil:
3The tempter came to him and said, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.”
4Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”
5Then the devil took him to the holy city and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. 6“If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down. For it is written:
“ ‘He will command his angels concerning you, and they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’”
7Jesus answered him, “It is also written: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’ ”
8Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. 9“All this I will give you,” he said, “if you will bow down and worship me.”
10Jesus said to him, “Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.’”
Notice what Jesus did with each of the devil’s temptation jab--He said, IT IS WRITTEN.
It would have been easy to follow the route the devil was telling him because Jesus could turn the stones into bread in a snap of a finger. But He didn’t. Instead, Jesus quoted God’s word, wielding it like a sword that struck the devil.
The devil took Jesus to the highest point of the mountain, showing him the splendor of the world, offering Him all the “best” that life could offer–fame, huge following, power–but Jesus didn’t buy in to the devil’s offer.
Again, Jesus quoted the word of God.
For every temptation jab, there’s a way to retaliate. We can learn from Jesus’ encounter with the devil.
When you’re facing the temptation jabs of the devil, or the jabs of worry and anxiety, jabs of lust or jabs of unworthiness, you and I can follow Christ’s example by facing these jabs head on and say: IT IS WRITTEN.
Hebrews 4:12 says, 12For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.
The next time you feel the itch of leaning on “will power”, pause, then shift to the word power mode because the Bible is every Christ-follower’s main weapon.
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