We all know that if we ate sand and got it into our stomach, this sand cannot supply us as food does, and it will even harm our body. Because sand is not organic, it does not have any elements with which to supply us. Any food, such as meat or vegetables, is necessarily organic. Because our body is organic, our food must also be organic for us to be able to digest and assimilate it. Through the organic function of our body, the food that we eat is organically digested into our body to be our life supply so that our body may obtain life.
If you do not eat anything all day, by evening time you will feel that you have no strength. If you do not eat for seven days, you may die. Therefore, our supply of life depends upon food. In the same way, we Christians not only have physical life, but we also have life in our spirit. The life in our spirit must have God Himself as the supply. However, because God is abstract and mysterious, we must have the substantial Bible, the word of God, as the means for us to obtain the supply of God. By reading and understanding God’s words and by turning what we read and understand into our prayer, the words enter into us as life to become our life supply. This is the proper way to read the Bible—considering the Lord’s words as food and not as teachings or religious writings.
Thus, Jeremiah 15:16 says, “Your words were found and I ate them, / And Your word became to me / The gladness and joy of my heart.” Good food always makes us happy; the Lord’s words are the same. When we eat the Lord’s words, we have joy and rejoicing in our hearts. Psalm 119:103 says, “How sweet are Your words to my taste (lit., palate)! / Sweeter than honey to my mouth!” This verse does not say that God’s words are in my mind. If this were so, that would mean that I study them with my mentality. It says that God’s words are on my palate, in my mouth. This is a description of the taste of enjoyment. One has to be very particular in eating. If one eats too quickly, gobbling things ravenously, then he will not have much sweet enjoyment.
Next, verse 105 says, “Your word is a lamp to my feet / And a light to my path.” On the one hand, we should not consider the Bible to be mere teachings, but on the other hand, we still need to be taught. First, the Lord’s word is our food to be our supply and enjoyment. Then, it becomes our lamp and our light to guide us. Today’s society is in darkness everywhere. Schools, offices, businesses, and so forth are all in darkness. But if you carefully chew and taste the Lord’s words, allowing them to be digested within you, they will shine forth to enlighten you inwardly and make you feel that in the path of human life, your every step has a lamp and is full of light.
Sixty years ago when I was still a small child, it was completely dark outside our door at night, so we had to carry lanterns outdoors and walk carefully step by step. In those days the roads were not as even as they are today. There were always little bumps and hollows. When we walked, we had to use the light and look carefully before we took a step. This was the way we walked in those days. Today in our human society, it is as if we are walking at night, as we did in the old days. Even if you are a young person in school, your way is very bumpy, and everything is in darkness. However, if you read and eat the Lord’s word every day, then His word will shine brightly within you and prevent you from stumbling.
This is why verse 130 says, “The opening of Your words gives light, / Imparting understanding to the simple.” The word opening here does not mean the opening up of a truth through an explanation, but it refers to an actual digestion. When the Lord’s words are eaten by us and digested in us, then they have an entrance and shine forth light. For example, you may often lose your temper with your wife, and the elders may exhort you with Ephesians 5:25, saying, “Husbands, love your wives.” Their exhortation, however, does not have much effect because the Lord’s word has not been digested within you.
If you truly digest the Lord’s word, even if you do not read Ephesians 5 but instead read John 6:63, “The words which I have spoken to you are spirit and are life,” immediately you will have the inward process of digestion. Once the Lord’s word is digested in you, it gives forth light. You are immediately in the light, and you see that your attitude toward people is wrong. You see that not only have you lost your temper with your wife, but your attitude toward others is also inappropriate. Sometimes you seem to have the proper attitude toward others, but it is false; it is only a kind of outward politeness while you inwardly detest that person. Therefore, it is not necessary that you specifically pray-read the verses about loving your wife or submitting to your husband. The only thing you need to do is use your spirit in reading the Bible. The operation of the Lord’s word is so broad that it spontaneously will enlighten you in every aspect.
I hope that you brothers and sisters will spend a little time every day, at least ten minutes, to read a small portion of the Lord’s Word. The young people need at least ten minutes to eat a meal, but when they eat in just ten minutes, they do not digest the food very well, so it is better to use half an hour. Similarly, we should spend at least ten minutes every day, and it is best if we spend half an hour, to read the Lord’s Word. Today we are all the saved children of God who have the inward spiritual life. This spiritual life needs nourishment. If you do not feed it, this life will not grow up. I have several grandchildren; all those who know how to eat are husky, and those who do not like to eat as much are skinny. I hope you all will take my word to have a good appetite every day and to spend a little time to read, understand, desire, and pray the Lord’s Word. In this way you not only seek the Lord’s Word but you also seek the Lord Himself.
I hope you will not take this merely as a doctrine to listen to, but rather that you will receive this word and practice it in your daily life. I hope that every day you will exercise to read the Lord’s Word in this way. As to how you read, I would advise you not to pick and choose, because picky eaters who eat only their favorite foods do not grow up to be healthy. It is best to read both the New Testament and the Old Testament at the same time, starting with Matthew in the New Testament and with Genesis in the Old Testament. Read the New Testament in the morning and the Old Testament in the evening, and read straight through according to their sequence without skipping over the difficult passages. When you are reading, you must remember to pray over it verse by verse, because the Lord’s words are life and truth and because this Lord is in our spirit today. We must first ask Him to cleanse us with His blood, and then we exercise our spirit to pray over what we have read and understood in His Word. In this way we will touch the Lord inwardly and receive His supply. Consequently, our entire being will be in the light of life, and this light of life will be our life supply, enlightening us and supplying us in every matter so that we will have light in our path and strength in our work.