The Bible Is Meant To Be Fully Digested

Ezekiel 3:10-12 -  Moreover He said to me: "Son of man, receive into your heart all My words that I speak to you, and hear with your ears.  And go, get to the captives, to the children of your people, and speak to them and tell them, 'Thus says the Lord God,' whether they hear, or whether they refuse."  Then the Spirit lifted me up, and I heard behind me a great thunderous voice: "Blessed is the glory of the Lord from His place!"

 

God had given Ezekiel an important scroll during his vision. It was full of the judgments of God that he would need to share with the rebellious children of Israel.  God had told him to eat it…and it had tasted like the sweetest honey to him. Then God told him to receive it all into his heart…every word that he ate and every word that he spoke to him. The words are strikingly similar to the words John wrote in Revelation 10:8-10.  John even added the bitter aftertaste he had when it was all eaten.

 

The word of God is a source of sweet wisdom and strength….but it only changes our lives if we digest it fully….all the way into our hearts ….and apply it to how we live.  We become clanging cymbals that speak hollow words we never follow ourselves.  We read the Bible so casually that it never changes the way we live.

 

God told us all in several places of the Bible that we are to love him with all our heart and all our soul and all our mind. That means that the love we have for him changes our heart…and empowers our soul to understand the words that we read. Once we have let them sink as deep in our hearts as they can get….they are a source of help and wisdom that satan can’t destroy.

 

I admit that I am not there yet.  I read each night…my one chapter…and try to let God speak to me each morning…revealing to my heart how I should let it change me each day.  I think of words…or phrases that I have read….but I do not have them memorized deep enough in my heart to know where they are found. I find myself relying on the internet way too much for my references…but I am so thankful that God allows me this weakness. I sure need a lift from the spirit that lifted up Ezekiel…to help me digest the word more completely…so it can become a permanent part of my heart and soul and mind.  

 

Father…thank you for the reminder that I need to be more serious with my study of your word.  I need to eat it…and digest it fully…so it can transform me into what you need me to be.  I thank you for the vast resource you gave me in the internet and ask your forgiveness for being too reliant on it.  Help me to find a way to eat it and digest it for myself…so that I can understand your word no matter where I am.  Amen.