God's Word Part 3

2. I must digest spiritual food.

In 1981, 10 members of the IRA went on hunger strikes. All of them died, lasting about 10 weeks on average. Without divine intervention, there's a limit to how long you can go without food. Food is essential to our on-going health, wellbeing and continued life. It’s no different with spiritual food. We need spiritual food to feed our spiritual inner man.

1 Tim 4:6-  If you instruct the brethren in these things, you will be a good minister of Jesus Christ, nourished in the words of faith and of the good doctrine which you have carefully followed.

I need spiritual food to nourish my inner man. The food I need depends on my level of growth. So what sort of food does a new Christian need in order to grow?

We've had a little baby. I saw her come out. And I can tell you that babies don't come out saying, "Hey, you! Yeah, you fat man! Don't just stand there. I'm starving. Give me a steak."

What do babies want?

1 Pet 2:2 - as new born babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby, a new Christian needs the pure milk of the word. This isn't a punishment. It's normal for a baby to be fed milk. But with a reasonable passage of time, you expect them to move onto something more difficult to digest.

Heb 5:12-14-  For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the first principles of the oracles of God; and you have come to need milk and not solid food. (13) For everyone who partakes only of milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, for he is a babe. (14) But solid food belongs to those who are of full age, that is, those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.

The difference between a baby and an adult is not what it can fit in its mouth; or what it can chew, or even what it can swallow. The real difference is what it can digest. As the baby grows, it moves onto solid food and a broader diet. A spiritual baby can only digest the milk of the Word, but a spiritual adult is able to digest the meat / solid food of God's Word.

So what does it mean to digest solid food spiritually? If the crucial difference is what you can digest, what does that mean? John 4:27-34 "My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to finish His work."

That's really something.

In other words, Jesus drew His strength, not from reading God's Word, thinking about God's Word, agreeing with it, admiring it. He drew His strength - His spiritual nourishment - from doing it.

Heb 5:14 - But solid food belongs to those who are of full age, that is, those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.

1 Tim 4:6 - If you instruct the brethren in these things, you will be a good minister of Jesus Christ, nourished in the words of faith and of the good doctrine which you have carefully followed.

This is why: James 1:22-25: But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves…

The person who hears God's Word and doesn't do it is like someone smelling a steak, looking at it, cutting it up, chewing it, swallowing it - but what's the point if you can't digest it?

Where do we get our physical strength?

*Looking at food?

*Smelling it?

*Chewing it?

*Swallowing it?

We get our strength from digesting it.

If we don't digest our food, we get zero nutrition.

What about spiritual strength? It's the same - if we don't digest our spiritual food - God's Word - we get zero nutrition. It's no use just looking at God's Word, although it's good to read it. It's no use admiring God's Word, although there's lots to admire. It's no use just thinking about God's Word, although that's good too. But to draw my spiritual strength and nutrition from it, I have to digest it (do it) - just like Jesus did.

This is summed up in one word - obedience.