Feeding on the Word of God - Getting the Most Out of Your Bible
Matthew 4:4
May 16, 2004
Introduction
The Word of God is essential in the life of anyone who claims to be a follower of Christ, because the Bible first of all tells us how to become a Christian, and then how to follow Jesus in our everyday living.
The Bible was important in the life of Jesus. It sustained Him and helped Him in times of temptation.
It is during one of those times that we find our passage today. You will remember from two weeks ago that Jesus, after the amazing event of His baptism by John the Baptist, He was then led to the desert, where He was tempted by the Devil. And the Bible tells us that when Jesus was hungry, the devil came up and said to Jesus,
"If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread."
But Jesus doesn¡¦t take the bait. And we find His response in verse 4 of Matthew 4. Please read this aloud with me, okay?
Jesus answered, "It is written: `Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’ " (NIV)
Today we¡¦re going to take a look at different ways to feed on the Word of God. And my hope is that you will leave here with a new hunger for the Word of God, the things of God, and more importantly, God Himself.
But let me set the stage:
Different types of food:
- Chinese - Mexican - Italian - Subs
- Fast food - Steak - Seafood
And you know what? The Bible is like the ¡§Steak and Buffet¡¨ from God! There¡¦s all sorts of stuff in there ¡V doctrine, stories, wisdom, encouragement, all sorts of stuff.
Different ways to eat:
- Fingers - Silverware - Chopsticks
- Dashboard dining
Different ways to get the food:
- Eat-in - Carry-out - Delivery
-Picnic - Plate or bowl - Bag or box
Many times, the type of food you eat determines the way you eat it. You don¡¦t generally eat Mexican food with chopsticks.
And another thing: sometimes we eat different types of food to achieve a desired result. Real quick ¡V what are the two most popular diets out there right now ¡V so popular that restaurants are adapting their menus for them? Atkins and South Beach. People want to lose weight, gain energy, or whatever.
But I want to get very simplistic for just a moment, because I think it¡¦ll help us the rest of the way here. What do babies generally consume? Milk. How about adults? Solid food.
Well, Scripture uses milk and solid food to describe our level of maturity in Christ. Allow me to read Hebrews 5:12-14 ¡V
In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God’s word all over again. You need milk, not solid food! 13 Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. 14 But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil.
Let¡¦s look at five ways we can move from just milk to solid food, okay? Let¡¦s get started.
5 Ways to feed on the Word of God:
1. Hear it in church.
Romans 10:17
Yet faith comes from listening to this message of good news ¡V the Good News about Christ. (NLT)
This is the easiest option, and the weakest. But the fact of the matter is that this is the way the vast majority of Christians get any of the Word of God.
Why? Because there is little or no commitment involved, other than coming to church.
But it¡¦s necessary, so I don¡¦t want to say that we shouldn¡¦t hear the Word. Obviously, we should. This verse from Romans makes it pretty clear!
Allow me to give you three options for hearing the Word:
- Sunday service.
- Sunday School.
- Small groups.
2. Read it on your own.
Matthew 19:4a
¡§Haven¡¦t you read the Scriptures?¡¨ Jesus replied. (NLT)
I¡¦m going to camp here a bit, because this is the foundation for the rest of how we feed on the Word of God.
We have all we need to live lives that please God. If you own a Bible, ignorance is no longer and excuse.
And by the way, if you don¡¦t own a Bible, I want to give make you aware that the Bibles in the seats are yours for the taking. We make these available to anyone who needs one, free of charge. We believe that everyone should have a copy of the Bible in easily-understood English.
So please don¡¦t be shy about taking one. It blesses us when we can give someone a Bible.
How many of you here own more than one Bible? Did you know that there are still millions if not billions of people who do not have even one copy of the Bible in their native language?
And yet here in America, and even in the Aberdeen area, people actually own Bibles but won¡¦t read it.
Why is that? First, I think it¡¦s because people think it¡¦s hard to understand ¡V the language is archaic. And you know what? They¡¦re right ¡V if they Bible they have is not using at least 20th century language, and they are not used to reading 17th century language, it is hard to understand.
Another reason is that for some people, the Bible represents dusty and musty tradition, and is not seen as having any relevance to current, every day living.
A third reason is that it might represent a harsh, judgmental, legalistic past, and reading it may open old wounds.
The bottom line of all these, though, is that there is no sense of its importance in the 21st century.
I hope that by the time we finish today you will no longer feel that way. So let¡¦s look at three options for reading the Bible in a systematic fashion. This is important because the Bible was written and put together in a systematic fashion.
- Read a few verses or a chapter per day.
- Read through New Testament each year.
- Read through entire Bible each year.
Big hint here: if you have never read the Bible before, don¡¦t start in the Old Testament.
I tried that before I gave my life to Christ. I got into the book of Leviticus, and all those laws. Man, did I ever start feeling guilty, especially about what I was eating!
I love grilled ham and cheese sandwiches. But the Old Testament says that it¡¦s wrong to eat pork.
Imagine my relief to discover that Jesus declared all foods clean, and that Paul says that no food is unclean in and of itself.
You need the New Testament to know that Jesus took care of all the requirements of the Old Testament. The New Testament is the fulfillment of the Old. And you won¡¦t understand the Old without the New.
Before I go on to the third way to feed on the Word of God, let me just share with you the story of a young girl named Mary Jones, who in the late 1790¡¦s wanted more than anything to own a Bible.
Unfortunately, they were not as available as they are today, and they were very expensive. So she began raising chickens to raise the money to buy a Bible. She worked for six years, until she had enough for a Bible. And this 16-year-old girl walked over 25 miles to buy one, but the pastor there had only one left, and it was promised to someone else.
Well, she couldn¡¦t hold back the tears, and when the minister found out what Mary had gone through, he made her take the one he had, reasoning that the other person could wait a while longer. And now Mary Jones had her own Bible that she could now read to her heart¡¦s content.
Do you understand that it¡¦s only because of God¡¦s grace and mercy that you have a Bible at all? Take advantage of it! Read it!
Okay. Here¡¦s the third way to feed on the Word of God:
3. Study it to learn more.
Acts 17:11
And the people of Berea were more open-minded than those in Thessalonica, and they listened eagerly to Paul¡¦s message. They searched the Scriptures day after day to check up on Paul and Silas, to see if they were really teaching the truth. (NLT)
You know what set these Bereans apart? They didn¡¦t just swallow hook, line, and sinker, what Paul and Silas were saying. They checked it out.
Let me tell you something: healthy skepticism is good. I don¡¦t expect you to just accept everything I say. Quite frankly, I¡¦m going to be wrong on occasion. I might mistakenly apply a Scripture, or give allowance to something Scripture doesn¡¦t allow.
Check it out. But don¡¦t just do it to keep me honest. Study the Bible because there is a lot to learn! The Bible is full of awesome stuff!
There are lots of ways to study the Bible. Here are just a few options:
- Topical studies (Salvation, music, relationships, parenting, business ethics).
- Bible book studies.
- Word studies (Holy Spirit, music, love, believe, etc.)
- Character studies.
Back to our food analogy for a moment. Each of these types of Bible Study can be likened to a different kind of food. So each type of Bible study will require a different way to ¡§eat¡¨ it.
Some use charts, some just use a notebook, or what ever. But don¡¦t use the same silverware for each type of study.
If you would like some help in beginning Bible study, just let me know ¡V I¡¦d be glad to help.
Let¡¦s move onto the fourth way of feeding on the Word of God, and that is to¡K
4. Memorize it to retain it.
Psalm 119:11
I have hidden your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you. (NIV)
I¡¦m a big fan of Scripture memory. Simply memorizing Scripture will go a long way to moving you on toward a healthy, mature faith in Christ.
You see, when you get the Word of God in your brain, the Holy Spirit can use that to bring to your mind areas of your life that you need to surrender to Him.
Or sometimes He will use that Scripture to comfort you, or to comfort someone else.
Hide it in your head so that God can hide it in your heart. And one of the ways that happens is when we utilize the fifth way of feeding on God¡¦s Word, and that is to¡K
5. Meditate on it to live it.
Psalm 19:14
May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, O LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer. (NIV)
What is meditation? Without getting too technical, let me just ask you a question: have you ever worried? Then you know how to meditate!
But Biblical meditation goes farther. It doesn¡¦t just contemplate the message, it looks for ways to make it a viable part of your life. Meditation takes what you¡¦ve learned and asks, ¡§Now what do I do with this?¡¨
Write this down: Meditation takes the Bible from being academic to being practical. It takes us from knowledge to action.
¡§I just studied Deuteronomy and can tell you everything about the sacrificial system and how Jesus fulfilled that.¡¨
Wonderful. But can you then explain the correlation between that and the fact that the Bible tells us to become living sacrifices, and just how we should do that?
¡§No.¡¨
Then what good is it? Knowledge puffs up ¡V application transforms.
Remember the goal of Scripture is not to
inform but to transform. Application transforms. So how do we apply what we have learned and meditated on? Let me give you very quickly, five keys to making good applications of what we learn:
„Ï Make it short.
Take baby steps. Don¡¦t try to change your whole life at once. You¡¦ll never do it and you¡¦ll become discouraged.
„Ï Make it easy.
There¡¦s no reason to make it more complicated than necessary. Keep it simple.
„Ï Make it measurable.
You can see if you have accomplished your application goals.
„Ï Make yourself accountable.
Let other people know what you¡¦re doing, and allow them to ask how it¡¦s coming along.
Example: Scripture memory.
Conclusion
One of the main ¡§goals¡¨ of the Word is to help us mature in our relationship with Christ.
Well if you just stay with the first one or two of these ways, hearing and reading, you will never mature beyond digesting milk.
That¡¦s why studying is so important. It helps us get past the milk, and into the solid food.
It¡¦s not healthy to only have milk in your diet. You need solid food.
But there¡¦s another caution here. You can¡¦t eat only solid food, either. You need other nutrients. So in your intake of the Word, don¡¦t just digest steak. We need milk once in a while. Don¡¦t ignore milk when eating the steak. You need both.
All of these are important, and I would dare say essential to become a healthy, authentic follower of Christ. Don¡¦t get stuck on just one of these five ways to feed on God¡¦s Word, or on just one of the ways within each of these five ways.
You know, I like oatmeal. But not for every meal, nor for every breakfast. Every now and again I like Capn¡¦ Crunch with Crunchberries. Mix it up. Get some variety. Take a risk.
A while back I mentioned three reasons why people don¡¦t read the Bible nowadays: archaic language, it¡¦s seen as out of date and out of touch, and it might remind someone of past hurts.
And you know what? That sounds like a lot of churches today, too.
But let me tell you something. All of these can be overcome. The Bible is available in current, modern day language, and it accurately reflects the original languages the Bible was written in. You can be sure that most versions are pretty accurate. If you have questions about a particular one, let me know. I¡¦d be glad to help you.
As for musty tradition, let me invite you to check it out for yourself. You know, most people who think that have never really read it for themselves.
Have any of you heard a rumor about someone, only to find out the rumor was totally untrue once you got to know the person? Same way with the Bible. Don¡¦t take other people¡¦s word for it. Check it out for yourself.
And then regarding past hurts. I understand how a connection can be made there. Too often, people use the Bible to justify harmful things. I still am mystified how people can claim to be Bible-believing Christians and be racists.
But when you explore the Bible for yourself, you find that the Bible does not usually condone what many people think it does.
So I say it again ¡V check it out for yourself.
I¡¦m going to end by giving two very quick invitations.
The first one is this: if you have never gotten past the hearing and/or reading stage, the invitation is from Psalm 34:8 ¡V
Taste and see that the LORD is good;
Check it out for yourself.
The second invitation is this: if you have never established a relationship with Christ, the invitation is this:
Taste and see that the LORD is good;
Same invitation. One is for those who want to deepen their relationship with Christ, the other is for those who want to establish it.
Take that step that says that you want to know that your sins are forgiven, that you are a member of the family of God with a home in heaven.
And when you have become a child of God, you gain access to the Father, and are given the Holy Spirit to help you experience the wonderful and abundant life that Jesus promises to all who love and follow Him.
I¡¦m not promising an easy life. In fact, Jesus said that it would very tough to follow Him at times. But let me tell you from personal experience, having lived my life without Christ and with Him, that it¡¦s worth it.
Won¡¦t you taste for yourself and see that the Lord is good?
I hope so. Let¡¦s pray.
