How can we maximise our nutrition from the bible?
In Part 2 we considered what Jesus meant when he said, ‘I am the bread of life’ and saw that we absorbed from Jesus the bread of life, his life, his character, his example, his teaching i.e. food for our souls. We need to feed on God’s word (bible) every day of our lives because it contains the nourishment we need for our souls.
Today in Part 3 we consider how can we maximise the benefit from what we can take from our daily bread?
We now consider the practice of Christian meditation on the word of God (bible).
Does anyone have a favourite scripture or keynote verse?
Psalm 1 is the keynote scripture for my life.
1 Blessed is the one who does not walk in step with the wicked or stand in the way that sinners take or sit in the company of mockers, 2 but whose delight is in the law of the Lord, and who meditates on his law day and night. 3 That person is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither— whatever they do prospers.
When Psalm 1 was written the law was most of the bible that existed at that time.
We can extrapolate it today to include all the bible (word of God).
The Hebrew word for meditate means ‘moving the lips’ or ‘mutter’.
In a sense we talk to our ourselves about the verse.
Another analogy is that we should be like a cow chewing the cud i.e. we chew the food and swallow then let it come back up so we can chew it again and again.
In practice this means that we should choose a verse or portion of scripture and keep chewing on it until its meaning becomes clear to us.
I did this with the verse ‘I am the bread of life’ that Jesus spoke in John 6.
What does bread do, what does life mean and so on?
Ask yourself about the meaning of the passage of scripture you are reading.
Here are some other scriptures that show believers taking God’s word into themselves.
Jeremiah 15:16 When your words came, I ate them; they were my joy and my heart’s delight, for I bear your name, Lord God Almighty.
Ezekiel 2:8 But you, son of man, listen to what I say to you. Do not rebel like that rebellious people; open your mouth and eat what I give you.” 9 Then I looked, and I saw a hand stretched out to me. In it was a scroll,
Rev 10:9 So I went to the angel and asked him to give me the little scroll. He said to me, “Take it and eat it. It will turn your stomach sour, but ‘in your mouth it will be as sweet as honey.’”
Joshua 1:8 Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful.
So, the idea of eating or taking God’s word into yourself is thoroughly biblical.
Let's do it!
Amen
Personal Prayer