Your Sure Defense When Satan Comes Calling
[Jesus] was hungry. The devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread. “Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone’ “.
Luke 4:2-4
Eve lived in a garden filled with good things to eat. Jesus had been in a desert 40 days without food. Yet when the temptation to eat came, the one who needed it most resisted it best.
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Under attack, Eve disobeyed God’s word not to eat; Jesus used God’s word to defend himself.
The Word is still a sure defense against the wily schemes of Satan, as Martin Luther proclaims.
WALK WITH MARTIN LUTHER
“In every temptation simply close your eyes and follow the Word. Outside the Word there is nothing but tribulation and affliction. Through temptations and afflictions God proves the strength and virtue of his Word.
“Satan constantly tempts the heart. Therefore we must overcome the feeling of the flesh and adhere to the Word; for God does not forsake us but, like a mother, lovingly cherishes and carries us. Go to Christ, who is the sacrifice for our sins. In him the Devil, sin, and death have been crucified.
“One way to conquer is to despise the thoughts suggested by Satan. The more you dwell on those thoughts in your mind, the more they oppress you. Once you lose sight of the Word, the ways and means of help are no more. But as soon as you lay hold of some saying of Scripture and rely on it as a holy anchor, the temptations are driven away.”
WALK CLOSER TO GOD
The Word of God is a sword with which you can defend yourself (see Ephesians 6:17)—but only if you carry it with you.
That doesn’t mean wearing a sheath with your Bible at your side. But it does suggest the need to know the Word of God intimately in your heart and mind.
His Sword is your sure defense when Satan comes calling. Don’t leave home without it.
