Nourished

The voice said to me, “Son of man, eat what I am giving you—eat this scroll! Then go and give its message to the people of Israel.” So I opened my mouth, and he fed me the scroll. “Fill your stomach with this,” he said. And when I ate it, it tasted as sweet as honey in my mouth. . . . Then he added, “Son of man, let all my words sink deep into your own heart first. Listen to them carefully for yourself. Then go to your people in exile and say to them, ‘This is what the sovereign LORD says!’ Do this whether they listen to you or not.’”

Ezekiel 3:1-3, 10-11

Ezekiel’s vision carries a theme that is repeated throughout Scripture. God’s Word is food that nourishes our spiritual lives in the same way physical food nourishes us physically.

Just as my body requires a daily, consistent intake of food, my spirit requires a daily, consistent intake of God’s Word, so that I will progressively mature and so that my spiritual immune system will be strong.

Physically, when we eat food, its nutrients are absorbed into our bloodstream and delivered to our cells. All of our food enters our bodies the same way, and yet the specific nutrients and vitamins get to the right cells.

This reflects the amazingly complex digestive system, which “clicks on” when we eat. First the process changes food into a form our bodies can use. Then the food is delivered to the cells.

Amazing, isn’t it? You have billions of cells in your body, each drawing from your bloodstream exactly what it needs, and it happens without your effort. You eat; your body does the rest. The nutrients in your food literally are “life to those who find them, and healing to their whole body,” which is exactly how Proverbs 4:22 describes the Word of God.

Nourishing your spirit works the same way. You feast on the Word of God and the Spirit of God applies his truth to your life. When you engage in the discipline of taking in the Word of God on a regular basis, your spiritual digestive system does the rest.

Father, feed me your Word. Let me digest it and assimilate it and then live it out.

We may be certain that whatever God has made prominent in his Word, he intended to be conspicuous in our lives.

Charles Haddon Spurgeon(1834–1892), English preacher