I’ve been thinking so much on The Word of God, maybe because I just came off a two week 30,000 foot flyover of Psalm 119 that has reinvigorated, revived and given me a renewed appetite for more of it. I mean who wouldn’t want to learn more about the road to happiness, blessedness, joy? So, I’ve been taking a really deep dive into it and I’m trying to dissect and absorb it. You know, go from 30,000 feet to 2 feet. I’ve been trying to meditate (and memorize) on it day and night (yep, that’s where it came from). The meditating is going well, the memorizing…
So, in my thoughts about absorbing and taking in The Word, I was reminded of my sweet Shenandoah, my Worst/Best (may she rest in peace) and the time she ate my Bible. Although frustrating at the time, I have recalled this event often. She unintentionally taught me one of my big life lessons. We are to absorb The Word of God. Take it in and digest it. God’s Word is true and wonderful, powerful and active, life-guiding, life-changing, comforting and healing.
Taste and see that the LORD is good. Oh, the joys of those who take refuge in him!
Psalm 34:38
Literally.
I’d left a Bible sitting on the couch and came home to this. You’d think the Worst/Best at 10 years old would be over eating the stuff she shouldn’t. For years you could leave things laying around, except for socks, and tea towels, and tissues, and gloves, and food, and vacuum cleaner parts, and she wouldn’t mess with them. Now, all of the sudden, she’s decided to eat it if it’s laying there. The other thing the Worst/Best has taken to chewing on is an old magazine we roll up to encourage her not to jump through the window when a car goes by with a whack on the bottom (don’t go all PETA on me a whack with a magazine doesn’t hurt a 90 pound, fully unglued, dog). It just seems a little ironic to me that the two things meant for good in life (hers and ours) don’t really work unless applied. We all need a whack (figuratively) and The Word (literally).
When I saw this chewed on Bible, so many thoughts came to my mind – I’m sure they did to yours as well. Initially I was annoyed, but then I thought she did something I (we) should all be doing. But the one thought that gave me pause was that I want to be that hungry for the Word of God. So hungry that I want to completely devour like Jeremiah.
When I discovered your words, I devoured them. They are my joy and my heart’s delight, for I bear your name, O LORD God of Heaven’s Armies.
Jeremiah 15:16
What food for thought. I won’t belabor the many metaphors and puns that immediately come to my mind about this incident. I’m sure your wheels are turning too. But, it does remind that the Word of the Lord is to be consumed, not by dog, but by man. In fact, many versions call it feasting — feast on the Word of the Lord. If we are followers of Christ, why would we not want to take it in? It is our provision, our sustenance, our life. It is meant to be read, absorbed and applied to our lives. We cannot know Christ, follow more nearly, love Him more dearly, know who He is, if we do not read The Word of God.
We can come up with all kinds of reasons excuses (maybe even idols) for not feasting on the Word of the Lord, but James laid it out too perfectly for us, didn’t he – to know what we’re supposed to do and not do it is a big problem. That problem is sin. He tells us to seek Him, continually, with our whole heart (yep, Psalm 119). To know what we’re supposed to do and not do it is a big problem.
Here’s the thing, the Word can change our lives but not if we don’t read it. The Word is filled with such love, hope, encouragement, promise, comfort, healing, peace, mercy and grace. Don’t we all need just a little bit of that in our lives? The Word is also filled with protection, instruction, teaching, wisdom, boundaries, and guidance. Don’t we all need just a little bit of that in our lives as well?
Yes, he humbled you by letting you go hungry and then feeding you with manna, a food previously unknown to you and your ancestors. He did it to teach you that people do not live by bread alone; rather, we live by every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD. Deuteronomy 8:3