I Found Your Words and I Ate Them

“Thy Words were found and I did eat them, and Thy Word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of my heart” (Jer 15:16).  “For they are life unto those that find them, and health to all their flesh” (Pr 4:22). THAT means there’s ENERGY in God’s Word.. there’s LIFE and HEALTH.

Have you ever wondered how the Word works when we read, study and meditate on it? First of all, the Word is alive, it is a living substance that works in our spirits. John said, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God” (Jn 1:1). When we are born again, Jesus abides in us and the Holy Spirit is in us, and all of that life, through the Word, permeates our spirits, our minds, hearts and bodies!

That means that all the POWER that was put into motion to create the universe is at work in YOU when you read His Word.

The writer of Hebrews says that it is alive, powerful, and actually sharper than a doctor’s scalpel or more accurate in probing than a psychologist, because it is a discerner of the thoughts of your heart. What that means, is that the Word essentially reads you while you read it. That’s how it can cleanse and prune you. (Heb 4:12)

The Psalmist, King David, knew how necessary it was to have the Word alive in him. “I delight to do Thy will, Thy law is within my heart” (Ps 40:8).

“My soul breaks for the longing that it has unto Thy judgments (Word) at all times” (Ps 119:20).

“Behold, I have longed after Thy precepts” (Ps 119:40).

“I delight myself in Thy commandments, which I have loved…and I will meditate in Thy statutes” (Ps 119:47,48).

“I love Thy commandments above gold; yea, above fine gold”  (Ps 119:127).

“I rejoice at Thy Word, as one that finds great spoil (Ps 119:162).

Paul told the Thessalonians that you’ve got to receive it, not as the word of man, but as the Word of God (1thes 2:13).  It is so important to simply take the time to read and meditate on the Word.  Grabbing a verse here and there just isn’t going to give you the strength that you need.

Comparatively, insufficient physical nourishment day in and day out will cause us to be weak and even sickly.  So, when we eat a good healthy meal, we feel stronger, healthier.  We may not stop and mentally think about how that food is doing its work in us.  We just know that it is.

The same is true for the Word.  When the Word is read, meditated upon, and when we have “eaten to the full”, we become strengthened spiritually. We move to the “WINNING” side of our life.  We may not understand how that “spiritual digestion” works in our spirits, but it does, just as the Word says it does.

Being faithful to “do” what we read in the Word requires MEDITATION. Meditation is more than reading; it’s reading mixed with a strong desire to absorb and exercise what you’re reading. It’s taking in the reading with a desire to become what it says. (Heb 4:2). Otherwise, it’d be just daydreaming.

Meditating is where the BLESSINGS lie:  “But his delight is in the law of the Lord; and in his law does he meditate day and night.  And he shall be like a tree, planted by the rivers of water, that brings forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he does shall prosper” (Ps 1:2,3).

All that you put into your heart will end up governing your life. “Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it” (Pro 4:23). The heart is the “command center” of the soul; the mind, will, and affections. Many times in Proverbs, it refers to the heart… “The Lord tests the heart, the Lord weighs the heart, the Lord detests a proud heart, the Lord hates a perverse heart.”

So the heart has to be “guarded” with ALL diligence and filled daily with life-giving Word. “Don’t lose sight of them. Let them penetrate deep into your heart, for they bring life to those who find them, and healing to their whole body” (Pro 4:22,23)

Let’s be sure to get a good dose of that ENERGY-giving, thought-discerning and heart-cleansing Word every day.

Remember, It ONLY works when you obey it. (Heb 4:2)