Devouring the Word

http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=jeremiah%2014-17&version=NIV

When your words came, I ate them; they were my joy and my heart’s delight, for I bear your name, O Lord God almighty. – Jeremiah 15:16

Let’s take a closer look at the above verse. First, through a word study, we can learn that ‘came’ literally means ‘were found’ – likely referring to the discovery of the book of the law that we’ve read about. What did Jeremiah do with the book of the law when it was found? Another word study will tell us that ‘I ate them’ means ‘I digested them, I assimilated them, I made them a part of me.’ So the book of the Law – God’s word – is found, and Jeremiah doesn’t just read them, but he digests them, takes them in, they become planted in his mind and in his heart.

We can learn from Jeremiah – and should – to not just read the Word as words on paper, but rather Words directly from the Lord our God. We are told that the word is alive and active, and so these words from God that we read every day are actively applied to each individual heart and life.

But, I’m sure we could all say that we have struggled with reading the word of God. I know for myself, there was a time when it was a chore – something I felt obligated to do. I certainly wasn’t devouring them, but rather just grazing on them a little, not sure if they were quite what I was hungry for.

That has changed for me though. I related now to the desire to feed on the word of God – to eat until I am satisfied. If you struggle with wanting to read God’s word or feeling like you are really getting anything out of it, let me encourage you to stay the course and press on. God will develop in you not only an acquired taste for his word, but a strong craving for it. Below are what some steps to creating these healthy eating habits:

Come hungry to the table of the Lord.
It is hard to have room left for the word of God when you’ve been feeding and filling yourself on other things. Isaiah 55:2 says “Why spend money on what is not bread, and your labor on what does not satisfy? Listen, listen to me and eat what is good, and your soul will delight in the richest of fare”. We all have an emptiness inside of us, an unexplainable longing that calls out to be filled. The problem is we seek to fill that longing in places and sources that do not satisfy – they only fill us for a while and then we are hungry again and go back to the source of false bread to be filled again. If we continue in this pattern what occurs is that we are never fully satisfied, yet we do not hunger for the Word. We must seek to fill those longings first through the Word of God – and we will be satisfied.

Be bold enough to make special requests
Any chef that is worth his muster wants those who eat his food to be delighted, satisfied, and be returning customers. God is no different. If you want to develop the habit, boldly ask God to help you. Ask God to create in you a hunger for his word and for you to find no satisfaction that even begins to compare in other places. Ask him to make his word irresistible to your soul so that you cannot help but to return to it again and again. I guarantee this is a prayer God will answer, because it is his perfect will for you hunger for and feed on his word. Boldly as him to serve it up in a way that keeps you coming back.

Savor every bite and morsel and try new flavors.
Scripture says that ‘ALL scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work’ – 2 Timothy 3:16-17. If we only continue to graze on the word, or gulp it down while we are on the run, or just eat the parts that are familiar, then we miss the beauty in the entire meal. God has laid out a gourmet meal filled with rich and satisfying food. Slow down, savor each word, meditate on it, seek to taste new things in the word of God.

Devour the word, my friends, eat and be filled. Digest the Word, assimilate it, let it become a part of you.

Care to share? What helped you develop the hunger for the word of God?

Today's post was submitted by Carol Bartels