
“You can’t just pour it, you have to drink it-
for it to do your body any good.”
That’s the thought that entered my brain after the second cup of milk I poured myself the other morning- only to get distracted and walk away without actually consuming it.
That always seems to happen with my coffee too. 🤔 Anyone else have to heat up their coffees multiple times because all the things interrupt? ☕️ Maybe by the third time you end up just tossing some ice in and going the cold java route instead? Yeah- I’ve done that!
For me though, no thought is ever just a thought about that thing.
No- my mind always parallels whatever I see to the spiritual.
So this is what that forgotten cup of milk said to me yesterday. Or rather- this is what I sensed the Spirit say to me, using the walked-away-from cup of milk as an illustration:
A Bible verse may be pretty to look at,
especially if it’s “poured into a pretty cup”
{AKA- being word-arted up.}
BUT- unless we actually consume it,
unless we let the Spirit help us digest it
and put it into action in our lives,
like was meant to be done…
then what good is it?
Milk in a cup not drank is nutrients that will never nourish.
Pretty verses saved to our camera rolls, or highlighted on our Bible apps, but never actually chewed on….never meditated upon…never put into practice and given a chance to nourish our souls, delivering nutrients to our needs, feeding our relationships and real-life situations… well it’s spiritual sustenance that we have, right there for the using, and yet many times we stay starving instead because we just glance at it, get busy with something else, and walk away.
When I make myself a meal or a drink during the day and forget to eat it, my body usually gives me some clues.
My mouth will become dry.
My stomach will start to grumble.
I’ll feel a little weak, and I’ll start acting a little hangry- a little less patient, a little more irritable.
When we neglect to actually consume the Word, the side effects are similar.
Our souls become dry.
We get grumbly.
We can feel weak – lacking in energy, joy, zeal, peace and fullness.
We can become more irritable, less patient.
And we can diagnose it as many things,
and cover it up with countless treatments, bandaids, or remedies-
but the truth is, we are probably just hangry for our spiritual food.
It sounds silly to have to be reminded-
to sit down, rest, take a few minutes three times a day to fix yourself a meal, and savor it.
We can get busy and think- who has time for that? And settle for a quick bite of fast food, scarfed down so quickly we can barely taste it. Or no food at all. But do that long enough and there’s no denying our bodies suffer. Though it may take us awhile to get uncomfortable enough to do anything about that.
And our souls? I think we tend to let them go hungry even longer. Who has time to sit down and read, reflect, get filled? So we settle for quick bites of “fast food” Word. Single scriptures isolated from their context, which look pretty but aren’t as rich in spiritual nutrients as they would be if we took in the surrounding verses too, and asked God to help us apply it to our lives instead of just pooping it right back out.
Excuse me for the gross parallel there, but it’s true isn’t it?
Ask anyone in homeopathy whether or not some brands of vitamins are better than others. They’ll tell you that without a doubt, the cheaper ones that aren’t made with bio-available nutrients… you might as well be flushing your money down the toilet because your body never digests what it was that you wanted to get in…
And I think sometimes we settle for cheap spiritual vitamins.
We spend our time consuming secular inspirational quotes that actually don’t do anything for us, because our souls weren’t designed to run on those.
Or- we go through the spiritual drive-through and order some encouragement (maybe that’s a daily devotional, a Sunday sermon, or even the encouragement I give here… not that they’re bad, they’re good, it’s just they were only meant to be snacks. Appetizers. Something to whet your appetite for the BIG meals. Which are the times that you spend, digging into God’s word, hungrily consuming chapter upon chapter because you’re hungry for it…you’ve tasted and seen that the “snacks” are good, and satisfying to your soul, and you want MORE.)
The problem with relying on fast-food faith messages is that…if we are in such a hurry, chances are we often don’t even remember to consume and enjoy the full message… we take a few drinks to wet the dry mouth, a few bites to make our soul stop it’s grumbling, and then go right back at it, as if that’s enough.
God didn’t want us just not starving.
He wanted us FULL, overflowing with the Word!
Today I challenge you (and as I do so, I remind myself)- to take a moment to be still as you consume the Word today.
Slow down and remember to eat.
A “home cooked meal” (right from your Bible) is best.
(Yes- I, a blog writer, am telling you this. It’s infinitely better to read your Bible than to read my words or anyone else’s. Just like it’s better to actually travel than to travel vicariously through someone else’s shared experiences. Those are cool too, but they just can’t compare to direct experience.)
But even if for today, just a snack – just this blog- is all you’re able to get to…
Sit with it.
Savor it.
Digest it.
Let it soothe your hunger and thirst,
and nourish your soul.
Let me do my best to give you value…the good quality stuff: Truth.
God loves you.
He wants to feed you.
He wants you to be well.
The best self care in the world is to soak that in, and allow His Word to minister to you, which really means to meet your needs… to nourish and soothe your soul. To fulfill your hungry and thirsty areas, and make you more than full. ❤️
{It’s only from overflowing with Him that we have anything worth sharing. And His supply is unlimited so as long as we will take the time to go gather it, there’s always enough!}
Deuteronomy 8:3 – “And he humbled you and let you hunger and fed you with manna, which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that he might make you know that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD.”
Isaiah 55- “Is anyone thirsty? Come and drink— even if you have no money! Come, take your choice of wine or milk— it’s all free! Why spend your money on food that does not give you strength? Why pay for food that does you no good? Listen to me, and you will eat what is good. You will enjoy the finest food. “Come to me with your ears wide open. Listen, and you will find life. I will make an everlasting covenant with you. I will give you all the unfailing love I promised to David. See how I used him to display my power among the peoples. I made him a leader among the nations. You also will command nations you do not know, and peoples unknown to you will come running to obey, because I, the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, have made you glorious.” Seek the Lord while you can find him. Call on him now while he is near. Let the wicked change their ways and banish the very thought of doing wrong. Let them turn to the Lord that he may have mercy on them. Yes, turn to our God, for he will forgive generously. “My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts,” says the Lord. “And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine. For just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so my ways are higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts. “The rain and snow come down from the heavens and stay on the ground to water the earth. They cause the grain to grow, producing seed for the farmer and bread for the hungry. It is the same with my word. I send it out, and it always produces fruit. It will accomplish all I want it to, and it will prosper everywhere I send it.”
Consuming the Word of Christ is consuming the most high-quality of soul-vitamins. The only kind, in fact, that will actually benefit our souls. The only kind with a guarantee from the God of the universe- that if we will actually sit down and consume it, WILL produce something wonderful in us. He guarantees it won’t be just time and effort, flushed down the toilet.
BUT- just like food,
we HAVE to consume it.
And KEEP consuming it!
Our faith needs fed forever.
I hope this message fills you for a moment, and inspires you to go to Him for more.
From Full 