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"The Nourishment of the Word"
by Matt Campbell
from a Selah Moment at Colonial Baptist Church
I have two friends . . . hopefully more.
But, I have two friends I especially appreciate.
I appreciate them because they ask me questions. They ask me good questions. And there is one question that both friends commonly ask when we talk together.
They ask me: “What are you reading?”
I may answer by stating the two or three books that I’m presently working through on theology or living the Christ-life.
“Oh that’s good,” they say, “but what are you reading in the Word?”
I may answer with the book of the Bible or text that I’ve been studying that week so I might teach on Friday night or Sunday.
“Oh that’s good,” they say, “but what are you reading in the Word to nourish your soul?”
Ah, here is the question that moves my mind from duty to delight.
Oh don’t misunderstand. I delight to study the Word to give it out to others; this is a joy and a privilege that can’t be matched.
But there is something imperative about reading the Word regularly for the primary purpose of nourishing one’s own soul.
Remember that the Word gave you life, and the Word will sustain your life: Peter reminds us that [1 Peter 1:23] “You have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God.”
The Word of God is the agent of life.
The psalmist also equates great blessing and fullness of life to the one who delights in the Word of God by meditating on it every day and night, [Psalm 1:1-2] “Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; 2but his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night.”
The psalmist gives no hint of reading the Word of God for duty sake. But the Word is his joy and treasure. In the Word of God he finds God. The person who enjoys and treasures the Word is a person with a full life and blessed by God. This is the promise of Psalm 1.
And look here. In the midst of some of the most sorrowful times in Israel Jeremiah interjects his joy in the Word of God. He says to God, [Jeremiah 15:16] “Your words were found, and I ate them, and your words became to me a joy and the delight of my heart, for I am called by your name, O LORD, God of hosts.”
You might be there with Jeremiah. Your life is full of sadness and sorrow. Or maybe you have allowed your reading of the Word to be merely duty driving.
Then I exhort you today with Jeremiah and David:
Look to the Word of God! Read it. Ingest it.
Pray today that your heart would be warmed as you read and hear the Word. Pray that your soul would be nourished by living Word of God. Through the Word of God you will find life. You will find Christ.
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