By eating we have digesting; by digesting we have the assimilation; and by this assimilation we get the practical nourishment of the riches of Jesus into our being. All the riches of Christ eventually will grow into our organic tissues. Then we become Christ. It is no more I, but Christ lives in me. For me to live is Christ. The Christian life is not a matter of imitating Jesus. We should not try to learn to be humble the way that Jesus was. This is like trying to teach a monkey to imitate a man. The monkey might be able to do this for a while, but eventually it will go back to being what it is. The Lord's way is not the way of teaching us to imitate Him. The Lord's way is the way of life, and the way of life is to eat.

Some of the American brothers became big not by being taught but by being fed. It was by their eating that they grew up into big men. No doubt, in another sense, we all need some education, but the basic thing is the growth, and this growth depends absolutely upon eating. Eating is to take some nourishment into you for digestion and assimilation. By this you will get the nourishment into your cells, and this nourishment even will become your organic tissues, your very being.

Christianity has given you the wrong impression that you need doctrinal teaching. We all have to say, "We don't need the doctrinal teaching. We need the nourishment." We need Jesus, not in an objective way but in a very subjective way. We need Jesus to get into us. We need to assimilate Jesus so that He can become our cells and our organic tissues to become our very essence and element. Then we can say, "For me to live is Christ." Then the content and the container become one. Jesus, after getting into us, becomes us. When you say, "For me to live is Christ," the Lord Jesus would say, "For Me to live is you." You may say that you are Jesus, but He would say that He is you. Then who is who? Eventually, the content becomes the container. We all have to see this. All the religious veils have to be removed. We need a clear sky.

From Genesis 2 to Revelation 22, through the whole Bible, you have such a line of eating and drinking. The tree of life and the river of water are seen in Genesis 2 (vv. 9-10). Then Jesus came and said that He is the bread of life which we must eat (John 6:35, 57). He also said that He is the living water which we must drink (John 4:14; 7:37-39). Even in the Epistles, Paul said "I fed you..." (1 Cor. 3:2—ASV). He also said that we all have been made to drink of one Spirit (1 Cor. 12:13). We have been made to drink, not to think. We all have been made, not to think of one theology but to drink of one Spirit. Then at the end of the Bible, we see the river of water of life and the tree of life (Rev. 22:1-2). The last promise given by the Lord is: "Blessed are those who wash their robes that they may have right to the tree of life" (v. 14a). The last call given by the Lord is to come and take the water of life freely (v. 17). Our destiny for eternity will be to eat and drink Jesus. Today we should give ourselves to eat and drink Him.

But you also need to be on the alert. After calling on the Lord, after eating and drinking Him, you have to say, "Lord, be merciful to me. Cause every part of my being to be open to You. Have the thoroughfare within my whole being." Then you will have a good digestion for a good assimilation, and you will enjoy and absorb all the nourishment of the riches of Christ. Then Christ will become your very being. We are the living containers, and He is the life-giving Spirit. Eventually, the life-giving Spirit as the content will be our element and our essence. We will be one with Him, and He will be one with us in an organic way.