Some people are naturally inquisitive, treating each step through life as a learning experience, while others seem to react anew in every situation, as if all they retain is water! Those who act before thinking are most dangerous with a loaded gun, especially with their ready, fire, aim philosophy of life. Certainly, there are times when our actions must be more of a reflex than a pondering thought followed by action, yet even that reflex comes from thought in training.
As Christians, God desires for us to spend time reading His Word, but more importantly, He desires for us to spend more time thinking about what we read. When those thoughts become actions, they have traveled full circuit. “Food for thought” takes priority over “food for flesh,” with the defining difference being between eating to live and living to eat. Most of us seem to be slaves to our stomachs, rarely missing meals. If we placed the same priority on not missing the daily bread of God’s Word, our spiritual condition would be as healthy as our physical condition!
King Solomon, gifted with wisdom, shared some of that with us in Proverbs. One of his sayings was:
A satisfied soul loathes the honeycomb,
But to a hungry soul every bitter thing is sweet.
Proverbs 27:7
The tastiest morsel can push a full man to Pepto-Bismol, while a starving man is never a gourmet. Yet every bit of the Bible is sweet, tasty and filling to a Christian. Reading the Bible never will leave a believer unsatisfied, as after eating the meat of God’s Word, another nugget or morsel can be like a dessert of honeycomb.
14 He causes the grass to grow for the cattle,
And vegetation for the service of man,
That he may bring forth food from the earth,
15 And wine that makes glad the heart of man,
Oil to make his face shine,
And bread which strengthens man’s heart.
Psalm 104:14-15
God teaches us about the need for spiritual sustenance with the correlation of that physical nourishment, which He also supplies for us. Though we all have favorite meals and favorite restaurants, we should always look forward to each meal of God’s Word. If the world’s greatest chef brought a gourmet meal to the table, would you ignore it? That’s what happens when we forget to read the Bible daily! Now there’s some food for thought!
4 He brought me to the banqueting house,
And his banner over me was love.
5 Sustain me with cakes of raisins,
Refresh me with apples,
For I am lovesick.
Song of Solomon 2:4-5
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