Let Me Feed You!

Jesus fed 5000 people on the mountainside when they had no means of feeding themselves.  God fed the multitude in the desert when they had no means of feeding themselves.  When we are hungry and have no way to feed ourselves, God will feed us.

I am convinced that the reason so many people cannot or do not read the Bible is that either they are not yet hungry enough for spiritual truth, or they are trying to feed themselves instead of allowing the Holy Spirit to feed them what they need.  So many of us determine we will "read the Bible," and so we begin -- at the first page of Genesis.  Undoubtedly, the more persistent of us will get further on, but sooner or later, all of us will bog down somewhere before we get very far. 

The Bible is not a "book," even though it does have a beginning, a middle, and an end.  Rather, it is a library, written over a period of roughly a thousand years by multiple authors with multiple viewpoints -- yet all used by the Holy Spirit to tell one story.  If we walked into a library and selected the first book nearest the door, determined to read our way around the shelves, we would soon give up.  When we come to God's library, we need a Divine Guide -- someone to show us where to begin and what to read.  We need to begin with worship, with acknowledging that we ourselves are incapable of feeding ourselves with divine truth.  We need to acknowledge our helplessness to read, to understand, to digest the living Word of God.  We need humility to ask the Holy Spirit to feed us the "pure milk of the Word of God" until we grow up into full maturity.  We need to believe that God will feed us with the "finest of wheat." 

A few times in my life, I have been in a restaurant where the owner says, "Let me feed you."  After that, I simply put myself in his capable hands and relax, knowing that he will bring me only the best he has to offer.  And I know that I will be satisfied, not only physically, but "spiritually," or aesthetically.  Our relationship with God is no different.  If we put ourselves in His hands, saying, "Feed my hunger for You, for Truth," will He refuse our prayer?  Only He knows the deepest hunger of our souls; only He knows where our minds need understanding.  And He is more than able to do what we ask.  We need only sit with our bibles on our laps and follow the leading of the Holy Spirit.

Faith is believing what God has said -- to US!  Most of us struggle to believe what God has said to others, but we do not realize that He has given us the same food.  It is hard to believe something that has not fed our own hunger.  Our faith begins with an encounter with the Risen Jesus -- He is alive!  How do we know that, except that we have 'met' Him on the way, as did the disciples going to Emmaeus?  If we allow Him to feed us where we are, we will recognize Him in the breaking of the bread.  Our gratitude for having been fed at the point of our hunger is the catalyst for our belief. 

Years ago, when I first began reading the Bible, I was devouring it day by day, under the anointing of the Holy Spirit.  I simply could not get enough.  After I had read it through twice, I began studying the geography, the history, the meaning of words, etc.  All of this reading and study, however, was nothing I was doing on my own -- it was the result of someone praying for me to receive "the baptism of the Holy Spirit."  And it came like a fire, unexpectedly.  I began reading the Acts of the Apostles, but only because that's where the book literally fell open.  When I realized I was reading about what had just happened to me personally, I couldn't stop reading. 

The day came, however, when I could no longer read the Bible for months at a time.  I would just sit and hold it on my lap, loving it, but not being able to read it.  Finally, Jesus spoke to me:  Let Me feed you!  I realized then that I had been 'feeding myself' with all the study -- study that was necessary for a time.  But now, I had to let go and let the Spirit of God lead me through the Scriptures most necessary for the moment and the situation.  One cannot go to school forever, as necessary as it is to begin there.  Sooner or later, we must begin to apply the knowledge we receive to the life we are living. 

I would challenge anyone who wants to know the Word of God to do an experiment:  begin with acknowledging Who God is and worshipping the One Who put the Word together for our benefit.  Allow Him to lead you to the section and the passage you need to read.  Because we read in order to meet the living God, the Word of God.  Only then will our reading lead to faith.