Of all the things that a Christian needs to do once they are born again, nothing is more important than that they eat and drink spiritually. Just like eating food is critical for our bodily life so eating the word of God is crucial for our spiritual life. If we don’t eat spiritually we will die spiritually.

Jesus said to pray to God “Give us this day our daily bread.” (Matt. 6:11) He also said that unless we eat His flesh and drink His blood we have no life in us (John 6:32-58) and that man shall not live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God (Matt. 4:4).

In the OT there is a picture given to us physically of the nature of spiritual food. In Exodus 16 we are told that the people of Israel used to live on manna in the desert. The manna appeared all over the ground each morning and needed to be collected, put in a jar and eaten that day. If they didn’t collect it in the morning, by the time the sun got warm it had disappeared. If they tried to keep it overnight it went bad and was inedible the next day (except on the day before the Sabbath when it would keep for two days). When they went to collect it they found that no matter how much or how little they collected, each family had just what it needed.

From this picture we can see that we need to keep our relationship with God’s Word fresh. Jesus is called the Word of God. The bible contains the words of God.

Like everything else to do with walking in the Holy Spirit, let Him teach you what this means for you. For me it is clear though that I need to keep in daily communion with Jesus, meditating on His words and getting fresh words every day to eat and to share with others, particularly my family.

It is a rich picture worth thinking about and acting on.

Don’t starve to death spiritually!