Feeding on the Word

If we were to take all the advice on nutrition that’s offered us by the media, we would be changing our diet all the time! There’s so much information about what’s good for our health and what foods we should avoid. Some of the advice is sensible, but much of it has the effect of scaremongering and making people become preoccupied with diet.

However, physical food isn’t the main source of life and health for us. Jesus reminds us in Matthew 4:4 that ‘man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’ God’s word is living and active (Hebrews 4:12), and as we feed on it God’s able to impart life to our spirits through His Spirit. He’s able to speak to us through the Bible, with words of love, encouragement, guidance, and correction. But these verses from Proverbs tell us that the benefit of God’s word isn’t only spiritual. It also brings health to a man’s whole body. As we receive His word into our spirits, life and health flow through into our whole being.

When the people of Israel were wandering in the desert, God instructed them to collect manna for their food (Exodus 16). They were to go out early in the morning each day to gather what they needed. That is an important principle for us. We need to be feeding daily on God’s word, which will nourish and sustain us physically as well as spiritually.
How healthy is your diet?

Prayer: Lord, please forgive me for the times I’ve been preoccupied with physical food and I’ve neglected to feed on the spiritual food that will nourish me. Please speak to me as I read Your word, and bring Your life and health to every part of me through it. Amen.