You are what you eat. If that literally means we're the sum total of all the food we eat that can be a little disturbing. But in a general sense it really is true - good health results from healthy eating and vice versa. And the same goes for us spiritually.
"Your words were found and I ate them, And Your words became for me a joy and the delight of my heart; For I have been called by Your name, O Yahweh God of hosts." (Jeremiah 15:16)
We crave what we eat. That's the danger of an unhealthy diet and the blessing of a healthy one. And again there is a spiritual parallel. If the "food" we serve our mind is an unhealthy diet of the world's fares we develop an insatiable appetite for this junk food, but if we feast on the richness of God's word we develop a craving for it - "Your words became for me a joy and the delight of my heart". We are what we eat.
Perhaps the greatest challenge every believer faces is getting in to the word of God on a regular basis. I've met many ambitious saints with the goal of reading through the Bible in a year who never quite seemed to get started with the first chapter. They thought they had a spiritual steak dinner appetite when in reality they were at a baby formula stage.
Newborn babies require a different diet than mature adults. No responsible parent force-feeds a steak to a toothless infant a few weeks old. There are levels of nutritional needs for the various stages of human development, as there are for spiritual development.
Better to read a chapter from the Bible a day and receive basic nutrition than to become discouraged and quit reading altogether while attempting to read 10 chapters a day. An appetite for milk will eventually lead to an appetite for steak.
God's word can only become "a joy and the delight of my heart" when we spend time in it and develop an appetite for it. By disciplining ourselves to regularly read and feed on the word we find that God's word becomes its own reward.
An appetite for God's word gives us the ability to "extract the precious from the worthless" (Jeremiah 15:19), a much-needed quality in life. Getting in to His word allows it to get in to us and direct us toward that which is truly precious and priceless from the perspective of God's kingdom.
May you enjoy a rich feast in God's word today.
Steve
"Your words were found and I ate them, And Your words became for me a joy and the delight of my heart; For I have been called by Your name, O Yahweh God of hosts." (Jeremiah 15:16)
We crave what we eat. That's the danger of an unhealthy diet and the blessing of a healthy one. And again there is a spiritual parallel. If the "food" we serve our mind is an unhealthy diet of the world's fares we develop an insatiable appetite for this junk food, but if we feast on the richness of God's word we develop a craving for it - "Your words became for me a joy and the delight of my heart". We are what we eat.
Perhaps the greatest challenge every believer faces is getting in to the word of God on a regular basis. I've met many ambitious saints with the goal of reading through the Bible in a year who never quite seemed to get started with the first chapter. They thought they had a spiritual steak dinner appetite when in reality they were at a baby formula stage.
Newborn babies require a different diet than mature adults. No responsible parent force-feeds a steak to a toothless infant a few weeks old. There are levels of nutritional needs for the various stages of human development, as there are for spiritual development.
Better to read a chapter from the Bible a day and receive basic nutrition than to become discouraged and quit reading altogether while attempting to read 10 chapters a day. An appetite for milk will eventually lead to an appetite for steak.
God's word can only become "a joy and the delight of my heart" when we spend time in it and develop an appetite for it. By disciplining ourselves to regularly read and feed on the word we find that God's word becomes its own reward.
An appetite for God's word gives us the ability to "extract the precious from the worthless" (Jeremiah 15:19), a much-needed quality in life. Getting in to His word allows it to get in to us and direct us toward that which is truly precious and priceless from the perspective of God's kingdom.
May you enjoy a rich feast in God's word today.
Steve
posted by steve @ 9:37 AM
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