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helpful hunger

Deuteronomy 8:1 “Carefully do every command I am commanding you today, so that you may live and increase, and may enter and take possession of the land Yahveh swore to your fathers.
Deuteronomy 8:2 Remember that Yahveh your God led you on the entire journey these forty years in the open country, so that he might discipline you and test you to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would watch his commands.
Deuteronomy 8:3 He disciplined you by letting you go hungry; then he gave you manna to eat, which you and your fathers had not known, so that you might learn that a human does not stay alive on bread alone but stays alive on everything that comes from the mouth of Yahveh.
Deuteronomy 8:4 Your clothing did not wear out, and your feet did not swell these forty years.

helpful hunger

Our Lord quoted from this text when Satan tempted him to turn a stone into bread when he was fasting. Sometimes our Father guides us into periods of temporary hunger. He wants us to learn dependence on him. But there is more to it than that. Rushing to get our needs met is something Satan wants. Steady focus on God’s word is what our Father wants.

Lord, when the hunger comes, remind us to turn it into something helpful, by focusing on your commands.