Feasting on God's WordSample

Day 1 - Interacting with the Bible

I grew up in rural Mississippi. My parents and I attended a very small church. At its zenith, it might have had 300 members. I put my trust in Jesus as my Savior when I was nine years old. One of the first changes my parents noticed in me was a deep curiosity for the Bible. I started pestering my parents and pastor with questions. Even as a young girl, I knew the Bible was going to be an important part of my life.

In the years since I first studied in Egypt and Israel, there have been three postures for approaching and interacting with the Word of God that have guided me. These ways of relating with—not just reading—the living Word and the living God quicken me, encourage me, convict me, and remind me of the best and truest Story ever told: the Story of the Bible.

We never simply read the Bible, we interact with it. According to Hebrews 4:12, “The word of God is alive and active”—and so are we. Us with the Bible is life with life. It is dynamic. Have you ever considered the reality that you have a relationship with the Bible? When I was chatting with a friend about this one day, he told me that he and the Bible were “taking a break right now.” I appreciated his honesty! What is your relationship with the Bible like at this season in your life? How often are you interacting with the Word of God? What have the Scriptures been saying to you? Is it a friendly relationship? Is it confusing, comforting, frustrating, exciting, or perhaps a mixture?

We want to be a people moved by the Spirit of God as we are informed by the Word of God, so that we are a people of God who bring heaven to Earth. The living God as our Father has prepared the feast for us; we posture ourselves to receive it. I often pray Psalm 81:10 as I open my Bible: “I am the Lord your God, who brought you up out of Egypt. Open wide your mouth and I will fill it.” We are not orphans, and we are not fatherless. We do not have to scrape and scrounge our way through the Bible.