The Deal with Digestion

I’m sure you read about digestion in third grade. My friend had this electronic book about digestion. It featured a picture of the digestive system. If you touched the stylus to a certain part of the picture, it would say what that does and then give a sound effect. Yeah. We thought it was so cool to make the book say “rectum” followed by a fart noise. I justify this by saying I was little and bored. Not a good combination. But stay with me; this is important.
According to High-Tech Productions, it takes about 12 hours for food to digest completely. That means your burger lunch is likely still with you. That seems like a long time, doesn’t it? I mean, for 12 hours, there’s a bunch of rotting food in your guts? That’s gross…but important. I don’t think I have to explain why.
My point? It takes time to digest your food. You can’t just shove it down and leave it at that. What do you do to digest your food?
▪ Recognize your human need for food (or, rather, get hungry).
▪ Acquire the food (make that junk food).
▪ Pray over the food (as in: “Dear God, bless this bag of Cheetos.”)
▪ Eat the food (like a pig).
▪ Chew the food (some people skip this part).
▪ Keep it with you (at your waist).
▪ Remember how good the food was (and look for more food).
▪ Get more food.
▪ Share the food (if you’re in a giving mood).
▪ Swallow the food (unless it’s vegetables; in that case, just spit them out).
As you can see, there’s a lot that goes into eating food – a lot more than you think. It’s complex. It’s good. We want more. We NEED more. It’s necessary for life. Not everyone has it, but everyone wants it.
The same goes for God’s Word. It’s complex. It’s good. We want more. We NEED more. It’s necessary for a fulfilled life. It GIVES life! Not everyone has it, but everyone wants it. It’s amazing; it’s fulfilling! Without it, we are empty. Without it, we are dead. It nourishes us. It prepares us for our day.
You need time to digest the words of the Bible. You can’t just skim through it and then jump up to call your friend. You have to meditate on it, memorize it, think about it, share it. You have to live and breathe God’s Word. Just like you can tell someone eats very little (or way too much), people should be able to tell that you are filled with God’s wisdom! It’s not just an eat-and-run. It’s not fast food. You need to:
▪ Recognize your human need for God’s Word.
▪ Acquire God’s Word (it’s not junk food!).
▪ Pray that God will speak to you through the Bible.
▪ Read the Bible.
▪ Think about the passage and find out what God is trying to tell you. “How can you apply this to your life?”
▪ Repeat.
▪ Memorize Scripture so you’ll be prepared for nearly everything.
▪ Take time to remember and reflect on all God has shown you through His Word.
▪ Spend more time with God, reading His Word and living it out.
▪ Share God’s Word with everyone around you!

JOURNAL JOTS:
1. Are you really taking time to digest your spiritual food?
2. What has been keeping you from doing this? OR if you have been “digesting” your spiritual food, what has led you to do so?
3. What are the benefits of actually meditating and digesting God’s Word? What are the drawbacks of simply reading the Bible but not “digesting” it?