Eating the Bread of Life

I've been thinking about Jesus, the Bread of Life.  I know how to eat toast; but how does one take in the "Bread of Life?

When we receive Jesus as our personal Saviour, things start changing.  Notice the emphasis on the word personal.  It is easy to think of Him as the Saviour of the world, but we really have to believe when we let him get close and personal, to believe that he forgives our sins and that we are complete in Him, because He gives us His righteousness.  We must spend time looking at him carefully, studying His love, taking it in, as we would eagerly take in a drink of fresh, cool water on a hot day.  A drink of water is of no benefit unless we drink it.  A slice of toast is of no benefit to our body unless we chew it up and swallow it.  Jesus is of no benefit to us unless we know him as our own personal Saviour.  We can receive him into our heart, so His life becomes our life.

But how do we get that close to Jesus, so as to take Him in?  It is through His Word.   We must receive His life, through His Word, for ourselves.  No one else can eat toast for us.  We have to eat our own breakfast.

"We must eat for ourselves in order to receive nourishment, so we must receive the Word for ourselves.  We are not to obtain it merely through the medium of another's mind. We should carefully study the Bible, asking for the aid of the Holy Spirit, that we may understand His Word.  We should take one verse, and concentrate the mind on the task of ascertaining the though which God has put in that verse for us.  We should dwell upon the though until it becomes our own, and we know "What saith the Lord."... In His promises and warnings, Jesus means me....  The experiences related in God's Word are to be my experiences."  Desire of Ages,  p.390

Taking in God's Word is more then a casual reading of the scriptures.  It requires prayer, the Holy Spirit,  concentrating until we know for certain what it means for us, dwelling on it until it is our own.  This means that we shouldn't limit our spiritual life to weekly sermons, or good books by Christian authors.  Listening to sermons is eating like a baby penguin, getting predigested food from the mouth of a parent.  It is important when the penguin is young, but at some age he starts eating on his own.  And at some point, if we are to mature, we must start eating the Bread of Life on our own. 

Here is a precious promise describing what happens when we take in the word of God. 

"By constantly looking to Jesus with the eye of faith ,we shall be strengthened.  God will make the most precious revelations to his hungering, thirsting people.  They will find Christ is a personal Saviour.  As they feed upon his word they find it is Spirit and life.  The word destroys the natural earthly nature, and imparts a new life in Christ Jesus.  The Holy Spirit comes to the soul as a comforter.  By the transforming agency of His grace the image of God is reproduced in His disciple; he becomes a new creature.  Love takes the place of hatred and the heart receives the divine similitude.  This is what it means to live 'by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.'  This is eating the bread that comes down from  heaven."  Desire of Ages, p.391.

 I'm renewing my focus on the Word of God.  I'm starting today to make sure I read the Bible and focus until I know what the word is for me in that passage.  I think I'm going to follow the schedule for reading the Bible through in 365 days, and see what happens in a year.  But I'm not just going to read the verses, close the book and go on with the day.  I am planning on taking in the Bread of Life while I do it.

Care to join me?  You can find a printable schedule here.  I'm going to jump right in on today's date.  This morning I read from Deuteronomy 11:24-13:33; Mark 14:22-52; Psalm 52; and Proverbs 11:1-3.  Every day there is something from the Old Testament, the New Testament, Psalms and Proverbs, which keeps the reading interesting, and varied.

This morning I gleaned the following thoughts from the four selections.  Watch and pray.  It will keep me from temptation.  It will keep me trusting God and growing like a plant in God's house.  It will keep me honest and keep me from lusting for that which is not good for me.  I will trust and praise God for all He is doing.  Watch and pray.

I'm praying to that God will bless you, all the readers of my blog.  May you too grow like a plant in God's house.