Our guidebook to being Christ-like is the Bible. As new believers, we were excited to read and know more. If you grew up in the church, you already had heard many of the more popular and common stories. After a while though, we tend to lose that initial excitement of our newfound faith, that high-on-life loving feeling, and fall back into our previous routine of life, putting Bible reading and studying on the back burner. This happened to me as a teenager and as a young adult.

Once I got married, had a job, and was more focused on career and my husband, my personal quiet time became less. I spent less time in devotions; it was a little less important, and I read in the Bible less. Those years I now recognize weren’t as fulfilling and fruitful as they could have been. You could say I nibbled on the Word. It was more of a light appetizer. Yes, it taught me some things and it gave me a little sustenance, but I was certainly not feasting on it. Reading Scripture was more like drinking a glass of milk rather than eating a juicy steak.  My spiritual growth slowed down. My choices weren’t always good. As a result of my being stagnant, I nearly had an affair.

“I fed you with milk, not solid food, for you were not ready for it.”
1 Corinthians 3:2

“For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the basic principles of the oracles of God. You need milk, not solid food, for everyone who lives on milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, since he is a child. But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil.”
Hebrews 5:12-14

As I have grown older, the desire to know the Lord better and to read the Bible has grown stronger as well. I am beginning to understand the term ‘hungry for the Word’. The more I read, the more I desire to know.  The more I chew on it, i.e. topics and verses, the more I dive in. It is becoming a craving! The Lord has increased my appetite for such things.

He can do this for you if you ask. You will be hungry for the Word when you stop munching on Satan’s snacks that only temporarily satisfy you. Perhaps it’s tv, or YouTube, or working too much, or sports, or earning the mighty dollar, or possibly even doing an abundance of good works…

I truly believe that the Word feeds those that hunger for it.

“Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.”
Matthew 5:6

“Your words were found, and I ate them, and your words became to me a joy and the delight of my heart,…”
Jeremiah 15:16

“For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.”
Hebrews 4:12

“Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear, and who keep what is written in it, for the time is near.”
Revelation 1:3

Food for thought: Do you hunger for the truth? Try a bite, nibble a bit, and the Holy Spirit will entice you to feast on His Word! Make it a hearty meal rather than just an appetizer.

Fun facts: A “tastefully” done short video on eating the Book

Photo by: Drew Wiseman – Pulled pork