Feeding Yourself on the Word of God

by Indrajeet Pawar

Nasik, India

23 April 2001, 6:15 am. Manju, my wife has just been wheeled into the delivery room of the conservative Baptist Mission Hospital, Bangalore for the delivery of our second child. I am nervous as the blood tests of the previous days had showed a low haemoglobin count. Committing her to the Lord, I find a quiet spot in the hospital chapel and turn to my planned daily Bible reading. And what do I read? ‘When a woman is giving birth, she has sorrow because her hour has come, but when she has delivered the baby, she no longer remembers the anguish, for joy that a human being has been born into the world’ (John 16:21 ESV).

These words of Jesus leapt off the page, driving away my anxious thoughts and calming me with the assurance that Manju will be well and that we would rejoice at the birth of our second child. Nearly twelve hours of labour and delivery by C-section later, our son Roshan was in our hands. God had been true to His Word – again. Whilst the context of Jesus’ teaching in John 16:16-24 related to his resurrection, his words spoke sharply into my situation. Feeding on God’s Word and hearing Him in this way has been one of the greatest joys of my life, the thrill of which I never get over.

This thrill started after I surrendered my life to Jesus in 1983. The morning after my conversion I was given a New Testament and I began the exciting journey of discovering God’s Book. Being converted from a Hindu background, I was amazed that God had a book through which He would speak to me. Through the subsequent years of learning to follow Him, I am grateful for the continued delight of having Him speak to me through the Bible – His food for life.

We live in a changing world where the only unchanging words are in the Bible. But those unchanging words can change and enrich life. It is only the word of God that can feed us where it matters. Job said about this Word, ‘I have not departed from the commands of his lips; I have treasured the words of his mouth more than my daily bread’ (Job 23:12). Even the spicy curry at dinner tonight will be no match to the daily delight from God’s Word!

And it was Peter who responded with those familiar words to Jesus, ‘Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life’ (John 6:68 ESV). Their forefathers had been fed by heavenly manna but here was food that was far, far better – Jesus, the bread of life. As we daily read the Bible we have opportunities to feed on Jesus’ words and enjoy the life of God. We need Peter’s determination to stick with Jesus though.

Milk and meat

When I was sixteen, an older cousin took a couple of us out to a buffet lunch. We were impetuous and silly and ate till it hurt. I still remember rolling around on the floor at home trying to get some relief from the overeating. That, fortunately, is one problem we will not have with the Word of God. On the contrary, the more we eat of this food of life, the stronger and better we will become. I may enjoy a rare glass of cold milk with chocolate but if that’s all I ever ate or drank you’d be right to label me as ‘certifiably mad’. The writer to the Hebrews encourages his listeners to move from milk to meat, ‘For everyone who lives on milk is

unskilled in the word of righteousness, since he is a child. But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil’ (Heb. 5:13-14 ESV). This passage provides a great impetus to feed on God’s Word and gives us one of the great benefits – the application of God’s Word helps us to distinguish between good and evil.

So, if this Word is so good and beneficial, how can we feed ourselves on it? How can we become spiritual gluttons of God’s Word? Here are some suggestions:

• Use a good version of the Bible. Personally, I prefer the English Standard Version (ESV) for its commitment and care to translate the very words of Scripture, which is a far cry from some gender-inclusive translations and paraphrases that are easily available today.

• Having a plan helps. Following a Bible reading plan can help us read through the entire Bible and sets us up for some amazing adventures of hearing God sovereignly. We will discover God’s amazing faithfulness as He uses the plan to speak into specific situations of our life. I follow a Book-At-A-Time Bible Reading Plan, a free copy of which can be downloaded at www.discipleshipjournal.com

• Pray before, pray during and pray after we read the Bible. Some of the most effective prayers are those fed by the powerful words of Scripture.

• Be alert to the promptings of the Spirit. After all he inspired the Scriptures and as we read we should be alert to his promptings. He will do that through verses that speak directly into our situation, as passages jump off the page or are highlighted by God. This means that we need to attend to this in an unhurried setting.

• Listen all the time. Besides our reading of the Scripture, we can feed on God’s food through sermons, Scripture-based books etc. Let’s keep our ears open all the time. One of my current favourite ways is to download sermons on my mp3 player and listen to them as often as possible – my morning walks are so much more interesting now.

• Make as many notes as needed. Sometimes I scribble the date and a line or two in the margin of my Bible, other times I write a note in my book. When I scan back on some of my notes they bring great encouragement to see when and how God had spoken. Men of God have found systematic journalising when God speaks to them as a very powerful way of assimilating the Word.

• Work hard to apply what God says. This past week,

as I worked through my reading in Job, I was convicted about joking and withholding the truth from my children when we play at home. Job’s passion for honesty in Job 27:3-6 was driven home with the Spirit’s conviction.

I made a note of it, spoke to my children and have promised not to tease them when we play. That’s a simple application. A more structured one can be found in 2 Timothy 3:16, so that as we read we can ask these four questions: What is this passage teaching me? In what way am I being rebuked from this verse? What aspect of my life do I need to correct? In what way can I receive this passage to train me?

• Memorise Scripture. Scripture tells us to store the Word in our hearts as an effective deterrent to sin (Ps. 119:11).

The Navigators Topical Memory System memorisation plan available at www.navigators.org/us/grow/tools is a helpful

tool for this.

In the longest Psalm dedicated to the subject of God’s Word, the psalmist speaks of a mouth-watering feast when

he exclaims, ‘How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth!’ (Ps. 119:103 ESV). The Lord has placed before us a banquet of truth; let’s daily feast on it.

Let’s enjoy His food for life.

Indrajeet ‘Inder’ Pawar is based at Grace Church, Nasik in India. He hosts a fledgling website at www.solidbooks.nfmaharashtra.org