Do you read your Bible every day? Or do you save it for special occasions? Your answer reveals the health of your faith. Because the Bible is meant to be nourishing daily bread, not fancy cake for special occasions. We are to eat the Word of God daily.

“Don’t waste your energy striving for perishable food like that. Work for the food that sticks with you, food that nourishes your lasting life, food the Son of Man provides. He and what he does are guaranteed by God the Father to last.” (John 6:27, MSG)

The Bible is the word of God.

The Holy Scriptures are – like Augustinus of Hippo reminds us – our letters from home. We need to eat the Word of God to stay robust in health. And that’s not all, we also need to savor the Holy Scriptures to stay centered in God. We need to eat the daily bread of life to stay nourished and energetic in the life of salvation. Plain and simple, we need food for the journey.

Jesus responded, “The real significance of that Scripture is not that Moses gave you bread from heaven but that my Father is right now offering you bread from heaven, the real bread. The Bread of God came down out of heaven and is giving life to the world.” (John 6:32-33, MSG)

Jesus is the real bread.

Jesus is the only sustaining nourishment for us. Candy and cake do not sustain us or keep us nourished. They might even keep us from feeling real hunger, even when we are severely malnourished. There’s nothing else on this green earth that nourishes us than the Word of God.

Jesus, the Word of God, has the words of eternal life. But the Word of God is also daily bread for our pilgrimage back home to God. Only by reading the Bible we draw strength, hope, and joy for the journey. Also, Only by eating the Word of God we have stamina to endure the hardships on the way home. Also, only by reading the Daily Bread we stay focused on God, centered in Christ, and united in the Holy Spirit.

It’s up to us to eat the Word of God.

Just think! God has made all this available for us! It really is up to us to eat the Word of God. And it’s not just for special occasions, it’s meant to be read daily. Start with small doses and go from there. You will be surprised by the wholesome well-being that soon overtakes you. That’s what living in grace is! Grab it and never let go!

 

Gracious God,
Thank you for providing us everything we need.
Help us to help ourselves.
Draw us into your Living Word.
Nourish us, sustain us, energize us.
Fill us with your Holy Spirit!
In Jesus’ name,
Amen

Q4U: Do you eat the Word of God daily?

Be blessed, my fellow pilgrim, as you eat the Word of God daily!

* [As you might have noticed, I enjoy reading the Bible in different translations and love comparing them. I have started linking the Bible verses toBiblegateway.com so you can easily read (and compare) them in the different versions I’ve used while preparing each post.].

Image courtesy of Matt Gruber, design by Mari-Anna Stålnacke. This post is refurbished from 2012. Linking up today with Dance with Jesus, Faith-filled Fridays, Five Minute Friday.