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Job 23:12 & Matthew 4:4 - The Importance of God's Word

Job 23:12

"I have not departed from the command of His lips;
I have treasured the words of His mouth

more than my necessary food.

Matthew 4:4

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.' "

QUESTIONS:

How important is the Bible? How important is food? If you had the choice of living on one thing only, which would you choose?

Where would YOU "draw the line"?

If you were forced to choose between losing meals or losing the Bible, how many meals per day would you be willing to sacrifice, before you would choose to give-up the Bible?

3 meals a day (that is, to die of starvation)?
2 meals a day?
1 meal a day?
Just the snacks between meals?
The Bible's not worth the trouble?

Admittedly, questions like these may seem a bit "fanatical" in an affluent society, where food is relatively plentiful for everybody. But there have been Christians down through the centuries who have been forced to make genuine decisions similar to this.

What do you treasure most?

VALUES CHART:

Using the values chart, classify the values and principles that you learned in this study.

Values Chart

P.S. - You may be wondering where I would "draw the line" (since I asked you)...

You may be wondering what my response would be, if I were given the choice between food and Bible.

Well, I know the way I would like to respond. I also know my weaknesses...

It's easy to claim that we are willing, like Peter, to die for Jesus (Matthew 26:35). But when the time arrives that words must be converted into actions, only the Spirit of God, actively working within us, can prevent us from being just as willing to deny that we ever knew him.

I hope I never have to find out how I would respond. But if I must, I hope that God's grace is abundantly present!

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