Do you look forward to Sundays when you can just be still and enter that rest? There are basic elements that the body can’t do without. We are not machines. Rest is one of them. Another is food (Sorry! junk food doesn’t count as food).
On one occasion while engaged in battle with the Philistines, Saul made a rash vow by laying an oath on the people, saying, “Cursed be the man who eats food until it is evening and I am avenged on my enemies.”1 In pursuit of the Philistines, the people entered the forest and saw honey dropping. No one dared put his hand to his mouth for they feared the oath. But Jonathan did not hear of the oath, and so ate. His eyes became bright. While the people were very faint.2
After Jesus had fed the 5,000 with a measly five barley loaves and two fish, on the next day, the people found Jesus. He said to them, “. . . Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For on him God the Father has set his seal.” “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.”3 Yes, this Jesus whom we know was the Word in the beginning, and was with God, and was God.4
Bread was their basic staple which they ate daily. Similarly, our soul needs the daily feeding from the Word. We are not referring to the commonly read morning devotion with snippets of verses conveniently interpreted by an author (Occasionally, due to hectic schedules, these devotionals are beneficial). Rather, we are talking about the daily reading, and diligent study, and meditating on the Word.5 The kind of search for truth that the Lord delights in. God is seeking such people who worship him in spirit and truth.6 Indeed, we please God because our zeal to honor Him is founded on TRUTH.
When tested by a scribe as to which commandment is the most important of all, Jesus answered, “The most important is, ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your MIND and with all your strength’ . . .”7 (Interestingly, quoting the Shema,8 Jesus added the MIND)
Notes:
1. 1 Samuel 14:24
2. 1 Samuel 14:25-31
3. John 6:22-27, 35
4. John 1:1-3, 14
5. Joshua 1:8
6. John 4:23-24
7. Mark 12:28-30
8. Deuteronomy 6:4, 11:13-21; Numbers 15:37-41
