What Does God Say About Discipleship?Sample

Day 5

Read the Word

Matthew 4:3-4

Then the tempter approached him and said, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.” [Jesus] answered, “It is written: Man must not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.” 

Every parent can tell you, mealtime can be taxing when their children are little. They might be fussy eaters, they might see the food in front of them as a canvas to paint with, or they might see vegetables as projectiles to scatter on the floor. Still, it is the parents’ responsibility to see that their child is well nourished. 

But there comes a time—a blessed time worth rejoicing over, to say the least—when that child is old enough to feed itself. Though their parents might prepare the food, they’re capable of taking it on their own and satisfying their hunger themselves. Eventually, that child will grow up and not rely on her parents for anything, being perfectly capable of finding, fixing, and eating completely on her own. 

But just because a baby will be able to do that eventually doesn’t mean we throw a bottle in a baby’s crib and expect it to just eat. Sadly, that’s almost exactly what many churches do with their baby Christians. 

In Matthew 4, Jesus compares God’s Word to food—it is spiritual food that nourishes our soul. It is perhaps the most important part of a disciple’s life, and yet too many of us are neglecting it. LifeWay recently put out a study that showed only 25% of church-going adults read the Bible regularly! It might simply be that they’ve never been shown how. 

In the Old Testament, while the Israelites wandered in the wilderness for forty years, God provided manna for them. They were physically hungry and complained for food, so every morning God sent enough manna for the day. Every day for five days, they were to gather only what they needed for that day, because it would spoil overnight. On the sixth day, they were to gather double because they were to spend the Sabbath resting. This is important: they had to get up and go out and collect the manna; it didn’t magically appear in their mouths. We must wake up every morning prepared to gather the spiritual sustenance needed from the Word for that day.

In his book The Lost Art of Disciple Making, Leroy Eims wrote, “The problem is not that there is no spiritual food. The problem is that many Christians do not know how to get it for themselves. They are like babies in a pantry surrounded by all kinds of canned goods—meats, fruits, vegetables. But they would starve to death unless someone opened those cans for them.”* As a woman who makes disciples, you have two responsibilities: to feed yourself, and to help your disciples learn how to do the same. 

For the Israelites, yesterday’s manna wasn’t good for today. And today’s manna isn’t good for tomorrow. The same is true for us with God’s Word. Be disciplined to be in His Word, and help the women you disciple to do the same. 

*Leroy Eims, The Lost Art of Disciplemaking (Grand Rapids, 1978), 53.