God does not care about what you do. He does not want you to do anything. He is capable of calling not being as being (Rom. 4:17). This was the way He took in His creation. He said "light," and light was there (Gen. 1:3). God does not need you to do anything. What God wants is to present Himself in His Son, Christ, as the riches for you to receive and enjoy. All the unsearchable riches of Christ are for our enjoyment (Eph. 3:8). The Lord is rich unto all who call upon His name (Rom. 10:12).

Romans 8 speaks of walking according to the spirit. Then chapter nine says that we are vessels (vv. 21, 23). A vessel is a container with a mouth. In Romans 10 the mouth is used to call, "O Lord Jesus!" Then all the riches get into the vessel. Romans 10 shows us that the empty vessels have a mouth to call on the name of the Lord in order to receive, to take in, all His riches.

Romans does not stop in chapter eight with walking according to the spirit. It continues in chapter nine by telling us that we are vessels to contain Christ. In chapter ten these vessels have a mouth to call on the Lord to be filled with Him. To call, "O Lord Jesus," is not just the way of salvation but the way to take in the Lord Jesus as our all.

Our concept is to improve our behavior so that we can be a good person. The Bible, however, tells us that we need to eat Jesus and live by Him. Romans 8 talks about walking, Romans 9 talks about the vessels needing to be filled up, and Romans 10 tells us that the way for us as vessels to be filled up is to open up our mouth to call on the Lord and receive all the riches of Christ. The Lord is rich to all that call upon Him.

Christ is the embodiment of all the fullness of the Godhead (Col. 2:9). All the fullness of what God is dwells in Christ for us to receive. He became flesh and tabernacled among us, full of grace (John 1:14). Of His fullness we all have received, and grace upon grace (v. 16). We have to receive Christ, not once for all but constantly. Day by day we have to receive Christ for our growth, and growth is for building.

Many Christians do not care for eating. Instead, they care for exercising their mind to study. In the Lord's recovery, however, we care only for eating. If you argue about what is on the menu and do not eat, you will either be undernourished or starve. We are not here to debate over doctrines. We are here to eat God's word in the Bible. Man lives by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God (Matt. 4:4). God's word is our food.

My main burden in this chapter is to help us realize that we need to take Jesus more and more into us. Do not be bothered by your losing of your temper. Do not be bothered about how to deal with your spouse. Forget about that. Learn to be a good eater. Eat Christ. Every morning take a good portion of Christ. The Cantonese have seven meals a day. We have to be "Cantonese Christians" who eat Christ many times throughout the day. We need seven meals a day to eat Christ. When our spouse bothers us, that should be a reminder that we need another meal of Christ. The Christian life is not a matter of behaving but a matter of eating.