Food for the Soul

Can I be real with you today?

I've struggled with an eating disorder in the past. I was really good at hiding it and nobody knew for a long time. I don't know if you've ever experienced not having food in your system, but it's a really strange feeling. Very empty.

In the same way, we can go without spiritual nourishment for a long time and nobody would notice. We know all the things to say, songs to sing, and t-shirts to wear. But it's a strange feeling. Very empty.

Note: Your salvation is not based on how much you read your Bible.

Please understand there is a difference between justification -- how you stand before God in faith, washed in the sacrificial blood of Christ -- and sanctification -- how you stand before man being made into the likeness of Christ. We are speaking in terms of sanctification today.

It is through the Word of God that we get to know God the Father, from His creation of the world to His deep love for us and desire to send us a Savior from the very first moment we were in need of a Savior (Genesis 3:15). It is through the Word of God that we get to know God the Son, from His incredibly humble birth to His death on the tree that should have held each one of us. It is through the Word of God that we get to know God the Holy Spirit, from His coming throughout Scripture to the arrival at Pentecost and now His presence with us and in us today.

"Your words were found, and I ate them, and Your words became to me a joy and the delight of my heart, for I am called by Your name, O LORD, God of hosts." -- Jeremiah 15:16.

Jeremiah speaks of eating the Word here. In the New Testament Paul speaks of feeding the churches he writes to, whether they be new believers in need of spiritual milk or mature believers with solid food. The food is the Word of God.

Friends, we have the Word of God at our fingertips. Many of us have multiple ways to access one throughout the day -- be it my regular one, the smaller one I have in my purse, or even using the Internet. If you're super cool and have a smart phone you have access hiding in your pocket at this very moment. In calling it the "Word of God", that's exactly what it is. These are the words that God, THEE God, the great I AM, spoke. These are His words. He used men throughout history to pen these words, but they were instruments in the process much like a pencil would be an instrument in you writing a letter. These are His words.

I write these words to you today because much like it's easy to fall back into an eating disorder, it's easy to put off my need for spiritual nourishment. It's easy to let my devos slide for the day, or just read a chapter to cross it off the to-do list. But these words bring life!

"Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled." --Matthew 5:6

Are you hungry today? Or are you too empty to feel hunger anymore? I pray that God would give you a hunger and thirst for the true bread of life today.