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. (Jeremiah 15:16)
The context of this verse is that the nation is full of false prophets who are speaking lies and “the deceit of their own minds”. By contrast, Jeremiah is the true prophet of the Lord.
This position does not come with the praise of men however. In fact, the people curse him. Why? Because he is telling them the truth, and not telling them the nice things they want to hear.
Here is the difference between Jeremiah, and the false prophets. They have not heard from God, Jeremiah has eaten, taken joy in, and been delighted by God’s words.
Several times in scripture we are given this picture of someone eating God’s words. (Job, David, Ezekiel, John). And, of course, there is this well-known passage from Jesus lips:
But he answered, “It is written,
‘Man shall not live by bread alone,
but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’” (Matthew 4.4)
Here Satan tempts Jesus to break his fast by turning stones into bread, and Jesus quotes from Deuteronomy 8.
Then there are several passages in the New Testament that talk like this:
Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation. (1 Peter 2.2)
Paul also talks this way about milk and solid food, as a metaphor for the believers’ capacity to understand scripture.
Back to our verse in Jeremiah. As I read this verse I was struck by something. Thinking about the metaphor of eating, as a way of describing how we interact with God’s Word, I realized something.
Most often when we talk/think about this metaphor we think about the mechanics of eating. We talk about the wisdom of taking small bites (Not biting off more than we can chew.). Of chewing our food well. These ideas are that we should consume scripture in bite sized chunks and break it down so that we understand it well.
Then we swallow our food so it is truly inside us, and we talk about the importance of scripture memorization.
These things are all true and good advice. I won’t dispute them at all, but Jeremiah doesn’t mention them.
Perhaps we’ll speak to why we eat. To fuel our body so we can grow (see 1 Peter 2:2 above), or to strengthen us for our daily chores, so sustain us, etc.
Again, Jeremiah doesn’t mention these things. Though he does mention one aspect of eating that we often ignore when thinking through this analogy, enjoyment!
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. (Jeremiah 15:16)
God did give us food for all the reasons mentioned above, but if it were only for fuel and sustenance, he wouldn’t have needed to create such a variety of pleasant tasting foods. Think about all the different fruits God made. Strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, blackberries (my personal favorite), bananas, apples, mangos, pomegranates, and the list goes on and on. And this is just fruit!
God wants us to enjoy eating. He created food so we could delight in it, enjoying his creation and praising him as Creator, every time we eat.
This is the aspect of eating that Jeremiah dwells on, and we often ignore, when using eating as an analogy for our consumption of scripture. Yes, we consume scripture for our spiritual sustenance, to help us grow to maturity, to strengthen us for the day ahead, etc., but like Jeremiah, we should find great joy in scripture.
You have permission to enjoy the bible! Reading scripture doesn’t have to be drudgery, a task you do because you know you’re suppose to. Rather it can be a delight. You can read it and take pleasure in the richness of the Story, delight in the character of God, find joy in his promises.
Here are a few suggestions on how to enjoy your bible reading.
Eat slower and savor the flavor – Don’t rush it, give yourself time, forget about the check list and just read and enjoy. Look for what you can learn about God in each passage (After all, he is the main character and point of the whole thing!).
More natural, less processed – I’m not saying all daily devotional guides are bad for you, but you will benefit, and ultimately enjoy your time with God more, if you are hearing directly from him. Read the bible, listen to the Spirit. Skip the processed and prepackaged devotionals, especially if time is tight.
Keep a journal – Foodies and wine connoisseurs keep journals. You can even buy food and wine journals. Keeping a journal will help you think more deeply about what you’re reading, allow you to reflect on what you’ve read, give you some context from day-to-day (Each morning I quickly read over my journal entry from the previous day to gain some context.), and allow you to look back over time and see how God has worked in your heart and mind.
I’m sure there are other great suggestions for increasing your joy in daily bible reading. If you’ve got one, feel free to share it in the comments.
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