The Bible As... Food Hebrews 4:12-13 (NIV)
Deuteronomy 8:3 (NIV) " He humbled you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna, which neither you nor your fathers had known, to teach you that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD."
In this passage Moses affirmed that, God desired to teach Israel the lesson that: "man does not live by bread only, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of the Lord doth man live." What food is to physical life...God's Word is to spiritual life. This truth is vital to our understanding of passages which refer to God's Word as bread, milk, meat, or honey.
Job esteemed God's Words his necessary food. We are talking about spiritual nutrition. God's Holy Word! The Bible is our spiritual food. The Bible is essential for Spiritual Life. Every Christian needs a minimum of divine food daily! When we have a special work to do for the Lord, we need to feed from the Word of God.
Nutritionists have established a minimum daily requirement of specific
nutrients and vitamins for the human body, and the needs of a believer spiritually
also must be met daily! We use the excuse of being too busy to spend the
time we should reading the Word of God.
Jesus reminds us in Matthew 4:4 "It is written, Man shall not live
by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God."
God's Word is essential for the maintenance of our spiritual life, and for spiritual growth. Life is one matter, but growth is another. There is no growth without adequate food. Peter urges us to desire the sincere milk of the Word that we may grow thereby. (1Pe. 2:2)
There can be no progress, no advancement, no maturity, Without the vitamins of God's Word! Believers need the Word of God for spiritual health. It is also essential that we are healthy spiritually. Our spiritual immune system is unable to fight off spiritual disease and germs that enter into our bodies. God's word has given to us all things that relate to life and godliness. (2 Peter 1:3)
Absorb the Word of God into our spiritual system. Insure protection against all kinds of spiritual disease, sickness, and spiritual deformity. The Bible is food that we need for: life, growth, health, and spiritual strength
1 John 2:14 (NIV) "I write to you, fathers, because you have known him who is from the beginning. I write to you, young men, because you are strong, and the word of God lives in you, and you have overcome the evil one.
There is a relationship between God's Word and spiritual strength. We derive strength from the Word. We are commanded to "...Be strong in the Lord..." (Eph. 6:10.)
How is this realized? Job said, "I have esteemed the words of his mouth more than my necessary food." Why? Because the Word of God is the believer's: spiritual life, growth, health, and strength!
Scientists tell us that a bird can go nine days without food: A man twelve days... A dog twenty days... A turtle five hundred days... A snake eight hundred days. A fish one thousand days... Some insects 1200 days.. WE dare go ONE day without spiritual nourishment from God's Word!
The Bible as Bread.
Scriptures that tell us that man is not to live on (physical) bread alone. We are to feed upon every word that comes out of God's mouth. Bread nourishes, not when it is looked at, but when it is eaten! The disciples were taught to pray "give us this day our daily bread".
The Bible as Milk.
Peter exhorts us to desire the sincere milk of the Word in the same way as "newborn babes". The emphasis is upon the intense desire for the pure and perfect Word of God. Peter isn't describing his readers as newborn babes. He is saying that every child of God should be thirsty for the Word of God. Do you thirst for the Word of God? Do you have an intense desire to receive it? The Word of God is: pure, genuine, and unadulterated. That can't be said of any other book or writing. The Bible is pure because of it's origin: God Almighty!
Psalm 12:6 "The words of the Lord are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times."
Psalm 119:140 "Thy Word is pure: therefore thy servant loves it"
Proverbs 30:5 "Every word of God is pure: he is a shield unto them that put their trust in him."
It is possible for the pure Word of God to become contaminated. Man's theories, and ideas creates a mixture that is harmful to the child of God! When we begin to place the thoughts of man on the same level as the Word of God.
The Bible as Meat.
God's Word is true and will build muscle in our spiritual system.
Hebrews 5:11-14 (NIV) "We have much to say about this, but it is hard to explain because you are slow to learn. {12} In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God's word all over again. You need milk, not solid food! {13} Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. {14} But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil.
Mature Christians should be eating meat! When I was a baby strained carrots were fine, but now I want a steak. Too many have resigned themselves to a diet of milk. That is abnormal!
Ephesians 4:11-16 (NIV) "It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, {12} to prepare God's people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up {13} until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. {14} Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming. {15} Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ. {16} From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.
Children are easy prey for the wicked one. It is time that we grow up! Become strong in the Word! The Bible is filled with meat! It will strengthen our walk with Christ.
The Bible as Honey.
The Word of God is our daily bread to sustain us... We begin to desire the pure milk to nourish us... We are strengthened by the meat of God's Word... Then we come to appreciate how sweet it really is!
Psalm 19:10 "...sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb."
Psalm 119:103 "How sweet are thy words unto my taste! yea, sweeter than honey to my mouth!"
Psalm 34:8 "O taste and see that the Lord is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in him."
Conclusion:
Have you tasted of the Word of God? Do you know the Lord Jesus Christ as your personal Savior? I encourage you to come in faith and find how sweet salvation really is. Christian, are you spiritually malnourished? Have you forsaken the essence of your spiritual life? Do you know the Word of God: as your daily bread, the pure milk, the meat, and the honey? Have you been content to feed on a substandard diet?
Its time to grow up!