Fullness of life

“One does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes forth from the mouth of God.”  (Matthew 4:4)

God’s powerful providence always and everywhere provides man with everything he needs for life.  If man does not live by bread alone, what else does he live by?  Because man is a composite of soul and body, he requires much more to satisfy his needs than only bread.  Man needs pardon and the consequent freedom from guilt; peace of soul to keep him sane.  Man needs the power that comes from outside himself to realize certain objectives.  If he has no purpose in life, his life will be aimless.  A purposeful life is a happy life.  One needs also to feel the presence of God in his life.  The world is full of hazards both spiritual and physical.  Therefore man needs protection from evil forces.  And finally, man needs provision of food, water, clothing and shelter.  No single individual can provide all these for himself.  The promises of God for a full life can be grouped under 7 P’s:

Pardon, Peace, Power, Purpose, Presence, Protection, Provision.

When Jesus says “One does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes forth from the mouth of God” (Matthew 4:4), we recall the original text in Deuteronomy 8:

"Remember how for these forty years the LORD, your God, has directed all your journeying in the wilderness, so as to test you by affliction, to know what was in your heart: to keep his commandments, or not. He therefore let you be afflicted with hunger, and then fed you with manna, a food unknown to you and your ancestors, so you might know that it is not by bread alone that people live, but by all that comes forth from the mouth of the LORD. The clothing did not fall from you in tatters, nor did your feet swell these forty years. So you must know in your heart that, even as a man disciplines his son, so the LORD, your God, disciplines you. Therefore, keep the commandments of the LORD, your God, by walking in his ways and fearing him." (Deuteronomy 8: 2 - 6)

Maslow’s famed theory of hierarchy of needs teaches that man’s needs are more than food, shelter and clothing.  Unlike the animals, man needs intellectual, emotional and spiritual gifts in order to satisfy him completely and open the door to a  full life for him.  Jesus promises, “I came so that they might have life and have it more abundantly.”  (John 10:10)

If we trust God, He leads and guides us to the fullness of life.