FEEDING ON THE WORD

"Thy words were found and I did eat them; and thy word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine heart" (Jeremiah 15:16).

This verse teaches us three things. First, it teaches that the finding of God's Word comes only to those who seek diligently for it. Secondly, eating means the personal appropriation of the Word for our own sustenance, the taking up into our being the words of God. "Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God" (Matthew 4:4). We also learn about the rejoicing: "kingdom of heaven is like unto treasure hid in a feld; the which when a man hath found, he hideth, and for joy thereof goeth and seller all that he hath, and buyeth that field" (Matthew 13:44). In this verse we have the finding, appropriating, and the rejoicing and “The words were found, and I did eat them, and Thy word was the joy and rejoicing of mine heart."

Finding And Eating

Eating is the central thought here. It is preceded by searching and finding. It is accompanied and followed by rejoicing. It is the only aim and use of the one; it is the only cause and life of the other. In the secrecy of the inner chamber, much depends on this—I did eat them!

To realize the difference between this and the finding of God's words, compare the corn a man may have stored in his granary with the bread he has on his table. All the diligent labor he has put into sowing and harvesting his grain cannot profit him unless he eats a daily portion of the bread his body requires. Do you see the application of this to your Scripture study in the morning quiet time?

You need to find God's words, and by careful thought, to master them, so as to have them stored in your mind and memory for your own use and that of others. In this work, there may often be great joy, the joy of harvest or the joy of treasure secured, or difficulties overcome. Yet, we must remember this finding and possessing the words of God is not the actual eating of them, which alone brings divine life and strength to the fact that a farmer possesses good, whole food. Some corn will not nourish him. The fact of being apply interested in the knowledge of God's Word will not of itself nourish your soul. "Thy words were found," that happened first; "And I did eat," that brought the joy and rejoicing."

Eating Every Day

What is this eating? The corn, which the farmer had grown and rejoiced in as his very own, could not nourish his life until he took it and ate it. He had to completely assimilate it, until it became part of himself, entering into his blood, forming his bones and flesh. This has to be done in a small quantity at a time, two or three times a day, every day of the year. This is the law of eating. It is not the amount of truth I gather from God's Word. It is not the interest or success of my Bible study. It is not the increased insight or understanding I am obtaining that brings health and growth to my spiritual life. Rather, this often leaves me very unspiritual with little of the holiness or humility of Christ Jesus. Something else is necessary in order for spiritual growth to take place.

Jesus said: "My meat is to do the will of Him that sent Me" (John 4:34). We must take a small portion of God's Word, some definite command or duty of the new life, and quietly receive it into our will and our heart. We must yield our whole being to its rule and vow in the power of the Lord Jesus to perform it. Then, we must go and do it— this is eating the Word. We take it into our inmost being until it becomes part of our very life. The same process must take place with a truth or a promise.

What you have eaten becomes part of yourself, and you carry it with you wherever you go as part of the life you live.

The two points of difference between the corn in the granary and the bread on the table can apply to your study of the Bible. The gathering of Scripture knowledge is one thing. The eating of God's Word, the receiving it into your very head by the power of the life-giving Spirit, is something very different. The two laws of eating the food, in contrast to those of finding it, must always be obeyed. You can gather and store grain to last for years. You cannot swallow a large enough quantity of bread to last for days. Day by day, and more than once a day, you take in your day's food. And so the eating of God's Word must be in small portions, only as much as the soul can receive and digest at one time. This must take place day by day, from one end of the year to the other.

It is such feeding on the Word which will enable me to say: "And Thy word was the joy and rejoicing of my heart." George Mueller said that he learned not to stop reading the Word until he felt happy in God. Then he felt prepared to go out and do his day's work.