Spiritual Food
Desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby.
1 Peter 2:2
Our spiritual lives need food. What kind of food? Spiritual food. Where do we find this spiritual food? In the Bible, the Word of God. The Bible reveals Christ, the Bread of Life, for our hungry souls, and the Water of Life for our thirsty hearts. If we fail to partake of daily spiritual nourishment, we will starve and lose our spiritual vitality.
Some parts of our world do not enjoy the freedom we have to read the Bible and study it together with fellow Christians. In most of the world, in fact, there’s a veritable famine for the Word of God! I recall the story of a musician in a country that suppressed any witness to the Gospel. He was converted and strengthened spiritually through the reading of individual pages of the Scripture torn from a Bible and slipped to him by an unknown friend. There are other stories of prisoners who survived twenty to thirty years at hard labor—and sometimes terrible torture—and came out with their minds intact, totally lacking in bitterness toward their captors.
We should not be content to skim through a chapter merely to satisfy our conscience. Rather, we should hide the Word of God in our hearts. A little portion well digested is of greater spiritual value than a lengthy portion scanned hurriedly.
A good place to start is the Gospel of John. As you read, the Holy Spirit will enlighten passages for you. He will illuminate the difficult words and make obscure meanings clear. Even though you cannot remember all you have read, or understand it all, go on reading. The very practice of reading in itself will have a purifying effect upon your mind and heart. Let nothing take the place of this daily exercise.
Scripture memorized can come to mind when you do not have your Bible with you—on sleepless nights, when driving a car, traveling, when having to make an instantaneous important decision. It comforts, guides, corrects, encourages—all we need is there. Memorize as much as you can.
Our Father and our God, let me digest small bites of Your truth so they can nourish and strengthen me. I will savor them like rich dessert. I will drink them in like cold water on a hot day. I will grow spiritually fit on them so I can nourish others with Your Word through Christ, my Lord. In His name I pray. Amen.
Billy Graham, Unto the Hills: A Daily Devotional (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2010).