"He answered, 'It is written: Man must not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of God'” (Matt 4:4 CSB).

For context, Matthew 4 is telling us about how Jesus was tempted in the desert. I must admit, when I read that verse, I almost always think, “Yeah, but you can't live on just bread anyway--you need protein” completely forgetting that in context, Jesus was at the end of a 40-day fast and his physical body would have been highly tempted by just bread.

Jesus is quoting Deuteronomy 8:3: “He humbled you by letting you go hungry; then he gave you manna to eat, which you and your ancestors had not known, so that you might learn that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord.” At which point, I tend to think, “Yeah, but they got quail too.”

It would be fair to question why I'm even writing this devotional because clearly, I regularly miss the point. Being a meat lover from a non-agrarian society, I’m prone to be consumed by debates about what kind of tangible food would best satisfy my physical hunger.

And thus, part of the goodness and the point of fasting. 

It’s remarkably easy to be all-consumed with our physical wants (and arguably needs) that we completely miss the importance of our Spiritual needs. Jesus shows us, even in a time of extreme hunger, the necessity of spiritual food. Part of being fully human IS the need for spiritual food. 

Both physical food and spiritual food are necessary. God loves and cares for both aspects of our human selves. We tend to lean into our physicality, often at our own great peril, forgetting the spiritual. 

Consider every time your stomach grumbles (whether it be a purposeful long fast or it's simply just “break-fast” time) a gentle reminder of our dependence on God in all things.