Lately my wife and I have been having many conversations regarding something I’ve been reading from Witness Lee and Watchman Nee’s Basic Elements of the Christian Life and over at Holding To Truth regarding going to the Bible not just for study, knowledge or memorization, but for nourishment. This has really been revolutionizing the way I see the Word. Here is a passage from volume 3 of The Basic Elements of the Christian Life that really points this this picture well.
“It [the Bible] does not say that we know this aspect or that aspect about the Lord, but that we taste the Lord. When we drink the milk of the Word, we are actually tasting the Lord. Therefore, the way or us to taste the Lord is simply by drinking the milk of the Word. The Word is not only for us to study or learn, but even more for us to taste. The way the Lord nourishes His body is by His Word. If we desire to enjoy the Lord and be nourished by the Lord, we must come to the Word to taste the Lord.
However, the concept which most of us have of the Bible is that it is a kind of teaching, a book full of doctrines. Thus, we come to the Word with the intention of understanding and knowing something. In all our Christian life, how much of the Word have we taken in as food for our spirit? We must answer honestly that most of us have taken in very little. We must not come to the Bible only to learn and to understand. The Bible is not the tree of knowledge; it is the tree of life! If we take the Word of God as the tree of knowledge, we misuse the Bible because 2 Corinthians 3:6 tells us that the letter kills. We must never take the Bible as a book of letters, but a book of life.
All Christians know that the function of the Word of God is to reveal God to us. Although this is true, this is not its main function. The main function of the Bible is to impart God into us as life and as the nourishment of life. It is not only to give us knowledge about God and His live, but to impart God Himself into us.”
I really appreciate your quote. It reminds me that the view that God wants to nourish us is consistent throughout the Bible (Psa. 34.8; 1 Pet. 2:2-3) That’s indicated by the word “taste.” In Psalm 34:8, the psalmist calls us to “Taste and see that the Lord is good.” In 1 Pet 2:2-3, Peter tells us to long for the milk of the word…if you have tasted that the Lord is good.” Unfortunately, even genuine believers can have their taste for God’s Word spoiled by their bad experiences with the killing letter (2 Cor. 3:6). It’s very good to pray, “Lord, grant me a sweet taste of You in Your Word today.” May the Lord recover our taste, our appetite, for the His words which are spirit and life (John 6:63). It is these words that nourish us and cause us to grow up into Him for the building up of His organic Body (Eph 4:15-16).
Thanks for all of those references, Tom. Maybe you should write the follow-up to this post
Some of your posts from Holding To Truth have really helped this truth to be planted in me and my wife’s life. Thanks for your excellent posts.
This is a really helpful matter! It’s wonderful that the Bible is for our nourishment, not merely for our study and analysis. In my experience, when I come to the Bible with the goal of contacting God and being nourished by Him, the words of the Bible are spirit and life, and my inward hunger is satisfied. Sometimes, though, I make the mistake of separating the Bible from God Himself, and in these instances my reading may be dry and fruitless. Like you, I’m learning to contact God in His Word and to be nourished by Him.
You took the words right out of my…fingers. When I go to the Word for nourishment, even though I may not retain some great reference or revelation, I’m nourished and am able to continue on spiritually. I’m glad to hear you’re experiencing Christ in this way!
Recently we were reading through John 6, where the Lord Jesus keeps saying, Unless you eat My flesh and drink My blood, you have no part with me. That was such a hard word that many of His disciples left Him! But in verse 63 He continues to say, It is the Spirit who gives life, the flesh profits nothing; the words which I have spoken to you are Spirit and are life.
This really enlightened me – the Lord Jesus wants us to eat Him and drink Him, and the way we do it is through His living word which is Spirit and life. So, we need to come to His Word with our spirit (by having a prayerful attitude and an open heart) to receive the spiritual nourishment in the Word – and this nourishment is Christ Himself!
In my experience also I realized that it’s so easy to just “read the Bible for knowledge”, and yet miss the nourishment. But we need to contact God and open to Him as we read the Bible, and then the words will nourish us, wash us, and they will be deposited into our being as Spirit and life – in the same way food is deposited into us as we eat. Now the Bible is a new book to me – I can eat the Lord by contacting Him as I am reading His Word, and I get nourished! As Jeremiah said, Your words were found and I ate them; and they became the joy and rejoicing of my heart! Wonderful!
That’s awesome, Stefan. Thanks for sharing!
Jeremiah said, “Your words were found and I ate them, and Your word became to me the gladness and joy of my heart, for I am called by Your name, O Jehovah, God of hosts.” (v. 15:16)
In a small group study on the book of Hebrews, one of the questions that came up was is it possible to eat of God’s word and then fall away as the exhortation was to guards one faith and salvation? One person used the image of being sick and you eat but you cannot taste anything. So “tasting” the word is different. Plenty of people read the word but are they tasting it?