And Jesus answered him, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live on bread alone.’”  Jesus answered him, “It is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God and serve him only.’”(Luke 4: 4, 8 NASB)

It is apparent how Jesus dealt with the Devil. He said, “it is written,” yet If we do not know the Word, and continually use it, we will lose it.

For many years we knew the phone numbers we most frequently used. Repetition is the key to all learning.  With the advent of the smartphone, we no longer had to remember our phone numbers.  We tap a name or picture and make a call.  Technology is terrific for making calls, but it does not do much for our spiritual warfare. You can tap on a Bible app, and it will bring up a verse, yet if you do not have that Scripture in your head and heart, it will never protect you.  You cannot use, “it is written,” unless you know what is written. This comes about only through old-fashion reading, study, and meditation.  There are no shortcuts, its time spent with God.

Just as we no longer remember our phone numbers, despising basic spiritual disciplines such as Bible reading and study will make us devoid of our weapons of warfare. It will take away from us the truth we need to deal with lies of the enemy.  Thank God for mobile devices where we can take libraries of Biblical content with us in our hand.  Yet some things never change.  Without the discipline of the repetition of time spent with Christ, we will never experience the renewing of our minds.  Concerning the Word of God, if you don’t use it, you will lose it.

I worked for seventeen years as a missionary with Youth With A Mission.  My missionary work has taken me to Mexico, Canada, Chile, Argentina, Bolivia, Spain, and Ukraine.  I hold a Masters of Education in curriculum and instruction from Virginia Commonwealth University.  [email protected]