Take And Eat

As I continue to hang out with my friend Jeremiah, he made a comment that I absolutley have fallen in love with...truth be told, I have loved this phrase for quite some time and it was good to be reminded of where it came from.  Jeremiah is just being brutally honest with the Lord about the treatment he is receiving because of his desire to make God known.  Jeremiah says in v.15 of chapter 15 - "You know, Lord; remember me and take note of me.  Avenge me against my persecutors...know that I suffer disgrace for your honor."  Or in chapter 20:7-9a - "you deceived me Lord...you seized me and prevailed.  I am a laughingstock all the time (because of you Lord);  Everyone ridicules me (because of you Lord).  For whenever I speak (on your behalf Lord) I cry out, I proclaim, "violence and destruction!"  You ready for this, "so the Word of the Lord has become (my strength, my shield, my fortress, my anchor of hope...NOPE) constant disgrace and derision.  I say, I won't mention YOU LORD or speak any longer of YOUR NAME LORD."  Jeremiah is done.  No more God, will I do this for you.  When I proclaim the seriousness of your holiness and the depth of your love all that the people really hear is "violence and destruction!"  Thus, they want to kill me Lord.  They want to be done with me and quite frankly Lord, I want to be done...BUT I CAN'T!!!

Why? Why can't Jeremiah just walk away.  Enough is enough Lord, right?  Jeremiah answers my question deeply with Jeremiah 20:9b - Your Word becomes a fire burning in my heart shut up in my bones.  I become tired of holding it in, and I cannot prevail."  Or back to Jeremiah 15:16 - "Your Word were found, and I ate them.  Your Words became a delight to me and the joy of my heart."  I sought your word, found them, took them, and ate them...Take and Eat.

Take and Eat.  The Lord offers us the same exact invitation today that He offered to Jeremiah.  To Paul.  To Esther.  To Moses.  To Jesus.  Take and eat.

But here is the secret for these people and others through the ages, beginning of verse 16 - "your words were found"  Jeremiah sought for His Words.  Paul sought His Words.  Esther sought His Words.  Jesus sought His (own) Words.  And not only did they seek them, but once they found them, they ate them.  What does it mean to eat His Words?  It isn't a matter of hearing His Words, or repeating them, or even rememebering them (although memorizing is a beautiful discipline) but eating leads to doing.  Eating leads to becoming one with the truth of Jesus.

My 16 year old said to me, "dad, I am not spending enough time with God and I am concerned about my lack of seeking Him out."  Well, to have my 16 year old even say that blows me away.  I mean, she is concearned about her walk with Jesus.  I said to her, "you are not alone in this endeavor, in fact, i've spent way too many years living in the boat of guilt and I know so many people who feel the same way as you do."  She says, "ok, but what do I do?"  I joyfully said stop trying so hard and keep it very simple.  Do what Jeremiah did and seek out His Word and once you find something that is "tasty", eat it.  Chew it.  Savor it.  Digest it.  Pray over it.  Do it.  We make it complex, but it's not complex, it is childlike and a child doesn't give a rip what anyone thinks, they just do it.  Sadly, we grow up and our faith goes out the window.  We think, "oh, i've got to do so much for God because He is a big God who requires big things" lies...lies...lies.  Can i be frank?  That's just dumb.  Eat God's Word the same way you eat a doughnut...a slice of pizza...a steak.  One bite.  You don't shove a whole doughnut into your mouth (unless its a doughnut hole), you don't shove a whole slice of pizza into your mouth, and you def don't shove a whole steak into your mouth...so why do we do that with God's Word or vice versa, God's Word is so big that I don't even start because I am already overwhelmed by it. 

So here is a December challenge.  Pick a Gospel book (Matthew, Mark, Luke, or John) and read it leading up to Christmas. But as you read, start by praying a simple prayer.  I usually start with, "Lord, I want to take and eat what you have for me today (my daily bread) so please give me Your Word."  Then I seek out a word or a phrase that stands out to me while I seek and once that word or phrase comes out, I eat it.  In fact, I stop reading the rest of the chapter (is that legal?) and spend time on that word or phrase.  I take a bite, i chew it, i digest it, and I try to do it.  And do you know what? He Works!  His Word HAS become a delight to me.  His Word HAS become my joy in my heart.  His Word is a fire in my bones and I literally want to share it.  Oh Jeremiah, you are so beautiful buddy, what a great word for me today.  Thanks for sharing that with me.  I am choosing Luke as my Gospel and I will do my best to share some of my thoughts with you through my blog this month.  I would love to hear from you as well if you would like to share.  Let's go seeking and we will find Him because He loves to be found by us (Jeremiah 29:13)