“COOKING UP GOD’S WORD” Lesson 143

This is not a cooking lesson since I am the world’s worst cook but it came to me when I was ‘trying’ to make a meatloaf. I have found that in order to make a decent meatloaf, you have to get your hands into the meat of the project. I will let you know later how it turned out and if you don’t hear from me ……….well…………!!! When ‘cooking up’ a lesson or just needing a good meal of manna, you have to get your hands and mind into the meat of the Word of God. The scripture states that the Holy Spirit will remind you of everything that Jesus has said (John 14:26). However, in order to be reminded of something you first have to have known it. Again, as in cooking, if you have never made a meatloaf you might have trouble ‘remembering’ what goes into it. Just as a cookbook guides you to a good and tasty meal, the Holy Spirit will guide you into all truth about God’s Holy Word (John 16:13).

Ezekiel, John and the Psalmist all were served a delicacy of the sweetened Word; each being told that it would taste as sweet as honey (Eze. 3:3, Ps. 19:10, Rev. 10:9-10). The Lord had instructions (recipes) for the water and food that Moses prepared for the escaping Israelites in the desert. The bitter water that the ungrateful people grumbled about needed just a piece of wood thrown into it to make it sweet (Ex. 15:22-25). God told the people that IF they listened carefully to His voice and followed His instructions they would not have any diseases. I would think that if you do not follow the instructions on cooking the meals in your own kitchen, you might expect a disease such as food poisoning. Just as some of us never learn to cook, the Israelites never learned to appreciate the food that God provided for them. Trust in the Lord was just not on their agenda. Remember that scrumptious meal of quail and bread that He sent each morning and each night. There was just one catch and that was that they were to follow God’s instructions and gather only what they needed for each day. However, some of them paid no attention to the instructions and their food spoiled.

Have you ever known someone that cooked without a recipe? You know, they just use a dash of this and a pinch of that. It somehow comes out editable and this is because they have made this dish time and time again and the recipe is buried in their mind. That is what the Psalmist says we must do with the Word of God. “I have hidden your Word in my heart that I might not sin against you” (Ps. 119:11). 2 Timothy 3:16-17 tells us that the Word of God is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness. We must add all the ingredients and not leave out verse 17 which says that we must be thoroughly equipped. To be thoroughly equipped in the Word is most helpful if you decide to go and remove a speck from your brother’s eye (Matt. 7:5).

Handed down recipes are common in families but I caution you to ‘write’ out the instructions given lest you forget and subsequently place blame where blame is not warranted. The people in Ezekiel were blaming God for punishing them unjustly saying that their suffering was because of their father’s sins. They made up a proverb; “the fathers eat sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge” (Eze. 18:1-4). This false doctrine had just a KERNEL of truth in its teaching so it seemed plausible. The righteous man is always careful to keep the right portions of the Word of God (Rev. 22:18-19) just as the 3rd generation cook keeps the original ingredients in the ‘family’s secret stew’.

References of ‘food’ and related themes appear in every book in the Bible, starting with Gen. 1 and ending in Rev. 22. Some of the best known stories are those dealing with food including Eve in the Garden of Eden and Joseph saving the people and his estranged family from famine (Gen. 47). In the Book of Ruth, Boaz found Ruth to be a tasty dish ONLY AFTER her mother-in-law got her hands into the meatloaf. She stirred up just the right combination of ingredients and let them marinate the appropriate length of time. The result of this carefully prepared ‘wedding feast’ was Obed, the father of Jesse and Jesse the father of David and the rest is history. The lineage of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ is listed in Matthew chapter 1. In 1 Samuel 17:17-18 Jesse tells his son and shepherd boy David to carry food to the battle grounds for his brothers. Notice that Jesse specified the exact amount of each food to be taken to the brothers and an exact amount of cheeses to the commander. Later when Abigail was bringing ‘bribery food’ to David she counted out exact amounts of each food. No pinching and dashing when your life depends on the recipe.

New Testament references to food are numerous including Jesus turning water into wine, helping the disciples catch fish, feeding the 5000 with five loaves of bread and two small fish, and His last supper. Jesus also told parables which related to food such as the parable of the sower, the weeds, the mustard seed and the yeast. The disciples ate together in their homes with glad hearts teaching us ‘in home’ hospitality not just ‘take a dish’ Christianity (Acts 2:46). If from lack of food, you become malnourished, you would seek a Doctor. If from lack of the Word of God you become spiritually malnourished, you should seek a Doctor. Jesus said that it was not the healthy who needed a doctor, but the sick (Matt. 9:12). These sick persons to whom He referred were non-believers and scoffers asking Him why He ate with sinners, not considering themselves sick with sin.

It is conveyed in the Word of God to nourish our inner man through the understanding of our rational mind and is digested by our mental faculties so that we might grow spiritually. You have known some that beg ‘to be fed’ the Word of God? Well, beware! God will feed you just as He did Ezekiel when He told him; “open your mouth and eat what I give you” (Eze. 2:8b, 3:1). This that Ezekiel was given to eat was the word of judgment and he was told to go and speak God’s words to the House of Israel. If you want God to feed you then you have to “eat what is before you” (Eze. 3:1), digest it and spew it out upon the unbelieving that God sends you to. Had you not rather eat the solid food that is for the mature in Christ (Heb. 5:14) than live on milk, being an infant and having someone always explaining and teaching the Word of God to you (Heb. 5:11-13)?

Jesus told the disciples that they had eaten “the bread” and had their fill but they still did not realize that HE was the bread of life (John 6:26-35) and the ones who come to Jesus will never go hungry. “Man does not live on bread alone but on every Word that comes from the mouth of God” (Matt. 4:4, Deut. 8:3). God invites you to taste the goodness of the Lord (Ps. 34:8, Heb. 6:5), to crave the Spiritual milk so that you might grow strong in your salvation (1 Pet. 2:2, 1 Cor. 3:2), and to treasure His Words in your mouth more than your daily bread (Job 23:12). Jeremiah stated that when God’s Words came to him, he ate them and they were his joy and his heart’s delight (Jer. 15:16). Let us open God’s recipe book and stir up a great, nourishing meal that we can sink our teeth into and digest into our soul and experience the joy of the fullness of God’s Word.

God bless the reading of His Word