Nourished By The Word!
I want to ask you a question today and I want to ask you to take it seriously. Ponder it. Chew on it and actually think about your answer. What Feeds you? I am not talking about physical food (although that would be a great thing to ponder as well and I would highly recommend thinking on that too) but what is it that nourishes your heart and soul? What do you feast on ALL throughout your day? I ask this because what we put into our body matters! It either fights FOR us or it will fight AGAINST us!
I’ve learned this lesson the hard way a few times in my life. For those of you who know a little of my testimony you might know that later in my high school years I struggled with anorexia. We had a Cheerleading coach who was obsessed with knowing everything we put into our bodies and she demanded that we keep a journal of our food intake and turn it into her at the end of each week. It became easy for me to eat nothing which led me into a full blown addiction. What I soon discovered is that putting NOTHING into your body is NOT an option. Sure, I wasn’t putting anything BAD into my body, but that was just because I wasn’t putting ANYTHING at ALL into my body which led to its own set of consequences! You might be sitting here right now and think, “Well, I don’t actually fill myself up on Anything. I’m not putting anything BAD into me.” But the truth might be you aren’t putting Anything at ALL into you, which will leave you sickly and vulnerable! Don’t think that putting NOTHING into you is a viable option, because that option only leads to death.
Another lesson came later in life, partly as a devastating result of my first poor nutrition choice. I became incredibly sick one day and that one day turned into a year of hospital stays, tests and ever increasing weakness. I was trying my hardest to feed myself everything I thought would make me better. I was piling up my own knowledge and began to eat everything I deemed healthy. It wasn’t until we discovered my health problems that I finally realized that all of my knowledge had been working against me! I had a condition in which my stomach was paralyzed and, because of that, it could not process fiber or fat. Now, I had been eating a lot of raw veggies and salads, all the while becoming more sick and enduring more pain. My specialist told me about my condition and explained that all I had been putting into my body, though I thought it was good, was actually fighting against me! What we put into ourselves matters! I soon found out that I would have to pay very careful attention to what I was feeding myself on a continual basis, because what I fed myself would either bring health and life or it would bring pain and death. I was given a specific nutrition plan and as I began to follow those instructions the overall result in my body was amazing!!! Not only did I begin to grow healthier, but my body began to actually Heal!! There are Very distinct benefits of feeding our bodies correctly and, on the flip side; there are very distinct detriments of feeding our bodies incorrectly! And so it is with our souls! When we feed our hearts and minds on the junk food of society our enemy will use that to fight AGAINST us from INSIDE us! We have before us each day a buffet of every form of junk food the world has to offer. It is easy and readily available for us to fill up on. We ingest it through TV, radio, newspapers, magazines, friends, conversations, and many more avenues. It may feel or sound good for the moment but what it truly does is clog up our spiritual arteries, harden our hearts, add extra weight that hinders us from running this race, and makes us weak and useless. What we need is a change of appetite! What we need is to pray for an insatiable hunger for God’s Word! That we would desire it more and more! The Word of God is our spiritual nourishment! It is what will grow us, feed us, satisfy us, equip us, and strengthen us as we become the mighty warriors of God that He is making us to be! I love what Jeremiah 15:16 says, “When I discovered your Words, I DEVOURED them! They ARE my JOY and my Heart’s DELIGHT, for I AM called by Your name!” My husband and I recently discovered a little restaurant that very few people know about. You might call it a “hole in the wall.” What we did not know was that it is a gourmet restaurant and when we discovered the food they served, we forgot any sophistication we might have and we just devoured it!! We couldn’t stop talking about it and as we left we were already planning our next trip back. We had no idea what we had been missing or what truly incredible food tasted like until that moment! It was very pricey, but every bite was worth the cost! I want to share with you that a gourmet meal has been set before us. Too few people know about it, and the cost is pricey! The great news, however, is that the price has already been paid, and we have been given an all access pass. All we have to do is to accept the invitation to Discover God’s Words and Devour them! God has already told us in Matt. 4:4 that we will live by EVERY WORD that comes from the mouth of God. 2nd Timothy 3:16 tells us that ALL Scripture is breathed out by the mouth of God and is profitable for teaching us, correcting us, equipping us, and training us! This is what we are to feast ourselves on! Jesus declared to us that He is “The Bread of Life” and ONLY He can fill us up and satisfy our souls! Let us declare today that, “I AM called by your name, Oh God, and as I discover your Words, I WILL Devour them, because they are my Joy and my Heart’s Delight!” What we put into our body matters. It will either fight for us or against us! Let’s ask God for a change of appetite and let us take the time this week to Feast on His Word!
Scriptures to Devour: Jer. 15:16, Matt. 4:4, Ps. 119, John 6:33-35, Heb. 5:12-14
