EATING GOD'S WORD

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“Taste and see that the Lord is good “ (Psalms 34:8)

We've all heard the adage, “You are what you eat.” But Ethiopian emperor Menelik II took the concept to a whole new level by literally attempting to eat the Bible. Whenever he was sick, he would physically devour pages from scripture, believing it would heal him. He died at the age of 24 in 1913 after consuming the entire book of 2 Kings while ill. (Adapted from DayBreaks, Galen Dalrymple, 07/14/2014) 

We may chuckle at his misguided theology, but we certainly admire his passion. Many times scripture figuratively instructs us to feed on God’s word. We’re told in Deuteronomy 8:3, "Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord." Psalms 19:10 asserts that the scriptures "are sweeter than honey, even honey dripping from the comb." (Yum…)

It's clear that God desires us to feed on his word each day. But you don't need a knife and fork, or salt and pepper shakers. Just open the pages and let the words flow into the depths of your being  Ask the Lord to reveal a personal message for you. Then sit in silence, meditating on what he shows you. Yes, we may have to "skip a meal" from time-to-time with no long-term harmful effects, just as we do with our bodies. But skip too many meals...and you'll die. The same is true spiritually. 

We’ve got to give the emperor credit for his "hunger" to feed on scripture, even if he took extreme measures to accomplish it. Our spiritual survival depends on consuming God’s living word. We don’t need to swallow paper and ink, but through reading and meditation, scripture fills the deepest hunger of our hearts. Each morning God prepares a spiritual feast for us in his word. Feed on it every day. Don’t worry about “biting off more than you can chew.” And I promise, it will never be “too hard to swallow.” 

  • On a scale of one to ten, how consistently do I "feed" on God's word? 

  • What commitments can I make to "consume" scripture on a daily basis?

Prayer: "Lord, increase my spiritual hunger for you. Make the words of the Bible come alive in my heart." 



Barney Cargile