Memorising Bible verses. Maybe that just feels a little too much like being at school. But it’s an important, and useful, thing to do. There’s a lot of power in God’s Word. In fact, there is so much power that it’s summed up as ‘…alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword’ (Hebrews 4:12 NIV). This ‘sword’ is what you can use to defeat the enemy when he’s attacking. In Ephesians 6, we are told to wear the armour of God. If we put on the armour, we can protect ourselves from the devil’s attacks, but to battle and defeat him we must pick up our sword: God’s Word. And that’s exactly what Jesus did when he was being tempted. The devil misquoted the Bible when tempting Jesus, saying ‘for the Scriptures say, He will order his angels to protect you’, but Jesus knew the Bible and came back with ‘The Scriptures also say, ‘You must not test the Lord your God’ (Matthew 4: 5-7 NLT). The better friends you are with your Bible, the better you’ll be able to recognise when the enemy is twisting its words. In this final temptation, Satan told Jesus to jump but Jesus didn’t. Not because He thought God wouldn’t catch Him, but because He knew He didn’t have to prove anything to anyone, especially not the devil. And guess what? You don’t either. When you start to feel tested or like you’ve got to prove yourself, get out your ‘indispensable weapon’ (Ephesians 6:17 MSG) and fight back with the truth.
What now?
If you don’t already, start using a Bible reading plan. Set a reminder on your phone for the same time each day to sit down and get into God’s Word.