Have you ever noticed how excited we get about food? We all know our favorites and we love the people who cook them for us. Yours might be chicken n dumplings or Mama’s potato salad, or maybe it’s Miss Ludy’s peach cobbler. We often call them comfort foods because they are just that—a comfort to us. Every week one of the special education teachers comes around to our classes and gives all the teachers a homemade snack. She teaches the children how to cook and they come with her with big smiles, giving us cookies or brownies or cupcakes. It seems like they always come at the perfect time, just when my sugar is low and my students are aggravating and I need that pick-me-up. I get so excited when I see them at the door. Most of us get excited over food—whether it’s going out to a favorite restaurant, Christmas dinner, Thanksgiving or a fellowship meal together after worship.
Now let me ask you, how about God’s food? How excited do you get over that? Is His Word a feast to you? A comfort? A pick-me-up? Is it your daily nourishment? Jeremiah said in chap 15:16 “Thy words were found, and I did eat them; and thy word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine heart; for I am called by thy name, O Lord God of hosts.” Read it again. His words make me weep. Do we feel this way about God’s Word? Junk food makes us lose our appetites for healthy foods, and the world’s “junk food” makes us lose our appetite for God’s word. Let’s eat right! We must partake of God’s feast!
- Desire—we must desire God’s Word—we must crave it! I Peter 2:2—“As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby”—read all of Psa 19:7-14—Matt 5:6—“Blessed are they who hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled”
- Memorize—we must memorize God’s Word—we must hide it in our hearts! It becomes our internal compass and guide. Psa 37:31—“The law of his God is in his heart and none of his steps shall slide” Psa 119:93—“I will never forget thy precepts”
- Meditate—we must slow our lives down and meditate upon God’s Word—Psa 46:10—“Be still and know that I am God” We must read it over and over and think about how God’s words fit into our lives, into my world! God is talking to me; what is He saying? What must I do? We must apply it and act! God’s word cleanses and renews us—Rom 12:2–it keeps us from sin so we must fix our affections on things above—Col 3:2
- Study—we must add what we have learned to our recipe for a life of righteousness. We must be a student of Christ and His words. Psa 119:102—“I have not departed from thy judgments; for thou has taught me” That means we must practice what we have learned. We need to study the Bible regularly; get ourselves some study tools, like dictionaries and handbooks, commentaries, lexicons. Let’s become the people of God who used to be known as walking Bibles! Heb 2:1—“therefore we must give the more earnest heed to the things which we have heard lest at any time we should let them slip”
- Delight—we must delight in God’s word—this is not a drudgery! This is our delight. Job 23:12—“I have esteemed the words of his mouth more than my necessary food” David said, “thy law is my delight” Psa 119:77, 143 “thy commandments are my delights” verse 103 “how sweet are thy words unto m taste” 40:8—“I delight to do thy will, O my God; yea thy law is within my heart” If we truly delight in the word of God, we will share it with others; we will teach others what the Master has taught us. For we know what Jesus said about His words: “he that rejecteth me and receiveth not my words, hath one that judgeth him; the word that I have spoken, the same will judge him in the last day.” John 12:48
- Trust—we must trust in what God has promised. Remember what Moses told Joshua 1:8—“….” We sing a favorite old song, Trust and Obey, trust and obey for there’s no other way, to be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey. Job 13:15—“tho he slay me, yet will I trust him” Nah 1:7—“The Lord is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble; and he knoweth them that trust in him” Jesus Himself told Satan, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God” –Matt 4:4 True living—the abundant life—the superior life—only comes by the spiritual strength we gain from God’s word.
Today we hear ourselves say how we have too much on our plate. It’s an idiom meaning we have too much to do; we are too busy. What we need to do is keep Christ in the center of our plate!
Psa 34:8—“O taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the man that trusteth in him”
-Debbie Kea
