Slow Down and Chew

"Your words were found, and I ate them, and your words became to me a joy and the delight of my heart." Jeremiah 15:16

            For all the backpacking I've done, there's been one common thread: Besides sore feet and a sweaty back, I always daydream about a juicy burger on the way down the hill.  I usually bring it up with my buddies, eliciting only heavy sighs and victimized glares, like I'm torturing them with my words. 

            God's words are to the human soul what a burger is to my mouth (and better for you!).  David writes, "How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth!" (Ps 119:103)  Jeremiah found God's words, he ate them, and they became to him a joy and the delight of his heart.  That is, he was nourished by them. Isn't this what we want?  It's why we get up every day to have a "quiet time" with the Lord - not just to read the Bible or check off our daily reading, but to feast on the goodness of God and be deeply satisfied by His truth.  It's a desire that's in every one of us. As Saint Augustine wrote, "You have made us for yourself, Lord, and our hearts are restless until they rest in you."  When we read our Bibles, I fear that we too often stop just short of that 'rest'. Satisfaction eludes us and we don't know why. 

         Part of our problem could be that we're trying to read too much, too fast. Whenever I try to "get through" a book, I don't comprehend or retain very much because I'm not taking the time to reflect. Doctors say we should chew our food 35 times, but who does that?! Most people's goal is to get the food into their stomachs as quickly as possible so they can get on with their day, not get the maximum amount of nourishment from their food. Could it be that we often approach Bible reading the same way? 

           I have a lovely plant in my office, and frankly, I'm surprised it's still alive because I never water it.  It goes weeks without water, and when I do water it, it all comes running out the bottom. What's happening is that I'm giving the plant more water than it can absorb. When it comes to drinking water, I've always been a "gulper." I see guys like Teri Baldwin, quietly sipping from their Aquafina bottles, and I feel superior for my ability to chug.  But the only area where I'm superior to Teri Baldwin is in taking more trips to the restroom! I'm actually drinking more water than my body can use. What guys like Teri know is that it's better to drink a little water frequently than a lot of water only occasionally. 

            Little bites, lots of chewing, small sips. The point I'm trying to make is that our souls need just as much time to absorb as our bodies.  If we would just slow down and let the truth of God's word saturate our hearts and minds, I believe that we might enter a new and exciting season of growth, where God's words would truly become to us a joy and the delight of our heart.

Eat My Words

             Have you ever noticed the different metaphors used for God's Word?  There's water, light, food, seed, rain, fire, and even a sword. The diversity of metaphors testifies to the Bible's ability to address a diversity of human conditions (even as the variety of "I AM" statements in John testify to Jesus' sufficiency to meet a variety of human needs).

            #1 - "Your Word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path" (Psalm 119:105).  Do you ever feel lost?  Do you feel like you're wandering through your days, one sunrise after another, with no clue as to what you're doing or where you're going?  God's Word is a light and a lamp, and as with any light, it only does you good if you turn it on.  Jesus asked a "no-brainer" in Mark 4:21: "Is a lamp brought in to be put under a basket, or under a bed?" If you own a Bible, you possess the greatest source of wisdom, insight, light and direction in all the world. So if you find yourself wandering aimlessly, frustrated for a lack of purpose or direction, it could be that this Light is "under your bed," unused and under-appreciated. God promises in Psalm 32:8 to "instruct you and teach you in the way you should go," but there's a condition. The very next verse warns, "Be not like a horse or a mule, without understanding, which must be curbed with bit and bridle, or it will not stay near you."  Apparently, the blessings of God's counsel are only for those who seek God and stay near him long enough to hear his voice. 

            #2 - "Man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord" (Deuteronomy 8:3, Matthew 4:4). How long would you survive if you stopped eating? A month? A year? Realize that God's Word is your very life (Deut 32:47). Can any of you relate to feeling malnourished, weak or under-energized?  If so, perhaps you've been reading your Bible but failing to digest any of its truth. Like hovering over a gourmet meal, you smell its fragrance, appreciate its beauty, but for all its loveliness, you forget to eat it!  Naturally, you'll go away from such an experience thoroughly unsatisfied.  When the prophet Jeremiah found God's words, he feasted on them. "Your words were found, and I ate them, and your words became to me a joy and the delight of my heart" (Jer 15:16). 

            If you lack wisdom and direction, know that God's Word is a light and lamp.  But perhaps you've been reading your Bible, yet without much benefit. Maybe you can't say with Jeremiah, "[God's] words became to me a joy and the delight of my heart." Next week, we'll explore this topic further and discuss some helpful ways to "eat" God's Word... and be satisfied!

BE to me what you ARE

Be a rock of refuge for me, a strong fortress to save me! For you are my rock and my fortress!" Psalm 31:2-3a

            David was a firm believer in the saving power of God, but more than that, he wanted to know God's power in real experience.  It's important for us to believe that God is a rock and a fortress, but it means nothing if we have no desire to experience his nature for ourselves.  In David's prayer, we find two keys for the Christian life - two characteristics which aid us in distinguishing between godly people and religious pretenders. 

            First, David believed that God was his rock and his fortress.  There was an individual nature to David's belief that many people know nothing of.  David was personally interested in God even as God was personally invested in David. Oh, there are many who say "I believe in God," but few who can sincerely claim that God is their God.  David's prayer was less a theological statement about God than a heart-cry for Him.  David wasn't nearly as concerned with scripture knowledge or religious disciplines as he was with experiencing the Living God for himself!

            This leads us to the second difference between a true child of God and a religious pretender.  David boldly declared "You are my rock," proving that he knew who God was. But he went beyond that declaration when he prayed for God to "Be a rock of refuge" to him. Oh, how many times do we believe something only to discover that belief itself is insufficient for the trials of life.  Yes, David believed in God's objective qualities, but it fueled his desire to plead for a deeper, subjective experience of them.  We can say "God is good," but have we experienced God's goodness? I can say that Christ is precious, but can I say without embarrassment that Christ is precious to me?  The academic mind will always be content with a stated truth (i.e., 'God is a rock') but the longing heart will forever cry out for God to be, in actual experience, that which he is in Divine essence. Theology is meant to lead us into the light of a fuller experience with God, but far too often we get stuck in our cave of creeds, hiding away from the living God who still does "whatever he pleases." Somewhere between the "experimental" faith of the Puritans and our modern age, we got duped into thinking that experience is wrong because it promotes an unhealthy seeking after emotion, causing believers to stop walking by faith.  But in the Psalms, we see modeled again and again a passionate longing after God himself, a journey from belief into a greater awareness of The One to whom all our beliefs point.  So let our prayer this coming year be that we might truly taste and see, for ourselves, that the Lord is good!