that God cannot appear to them
except in the form of bread.
– Ghandi
I think I’m starving. It’s true. I’ve seen the world, I’ve seen starving people… I have been back home for over a month now and, sadly, I’ve come to realize that it is me that is starving.
Why spend your money on food that does not give you strength? Why pay for food that does you no good? Listen, and I will tell you where to get food that is good for the soul! – Isaiah 55:2
I’m starving and I don’t know how to eat. People need more than bread to live. Real life comes from feeding on every word of the Lord (Matt. 4:4, Luke 4:4, Deut. 8:3). Hebrews 5 talks about moving from milk to solid food… But how? How do I eat the Word of God? How do I chew on it, digest it, get full by it… nourished?
Me: God, I’m starving. Where do I even start to get healthy?
Sunday morning my pastor taught on the importance of the Bible. He mentioned Romans 10:17 – So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God. I hear this verse all the time and for the life of me have not been able to figure out what it means. But, I’m thinking this is where “healthy eating” begins. So, I’ve been thinking about it – what is “the Wordâ€�, how do I “hear by the Wordâ€� ? I’ve been talking to God about it. God agreed with me – I’m starving.
…comes by hearing and hearing by the Word… and hearing by the Word… hearing by the Word…
Me: God, how do I hear by the Word? I just don’t get it.
God: You aren’t listening.
That’s it! There is the truth. I’m not listening. I’m not hearing what He has to say. In Luke 10:38-42 Mary sat at Jesus feet and listened to His words. But I’m not stopping, sitting, listening… I’m rushing around and treating the Bible like any other book. I’m trying to read it, get through it, trying to memorize it… I’ve been standing over the book trying to measure my performance – 10 chapters a week or 30 minutes a day or read the bible in a year… check it off my list.
But, what if I only read one verse? What if instead of trying to get through it I tried to get in it? What if instead of trying to memorize it I tried to live it? What if instead of standing over the book I sat down and let His words stand over me – and I just listened, learned, waited, meditated… No longer trying to learn information to recite it back, to feel productive, or to look good but, instead, to know it, experience it, live it… to eat it.
What if that one verse became REAL? What if that verse became evident in the way I lived my life? What if I was actually doing that one verse? What if that one verse got into me and changed me, became alive in me? Then what would happen if I moved on to a second verse?
The Word is God and God is alive (John 1). The Word is alive (Heb. 4:12). I can not say I love God and not be in love with His words. When I treat them casually and complacently then that is a direct result of how I am treating God. If I want to know God then I need to know His words. If I want to hear Him, then I need to know what He sounds like. I mean if every word in the Bible is a door that opens up into an experience of God Himself then I want in.
Lord, I’m hungry! I need more of you! Teach me how to eat! Teach me how to hear!
