Did you Eat Today?

I do not want to ignore the fact that some of the people that we serve across the world, may well have not eaten physical food today and often not due to fasting but poverty. So the question 'Did you eat today?' is in some ways a sensitive one and although LHM primarily exists to serve spiritual food, we do care about each need of each individual in this world.

It is because of that fact that where we can, we help those we work with closely with physical needs at times and we wholeheartedly cry out for the world to have physical 'Daily Bread' each day!

However, the purpose of today's message is to focus on spiritual food and it is believed that when The Lord Jesus taught us to ask for our 'Daily Bread' that he was indeed talking about both physical food and spiritual food.

Thinking now about spiritual food, what is your answer to the question: 'Did you eat today?'

I would strongly encourage you (and myself) to ask ourselves this question every day. You see, you may be highly disciplined in having some kind of one to one time with The Lord or quiet time in a day but it is so easy to miss the point of such good habits.

We know why we eat physically and we know if we have not eaten. Our stomach probably hurts, we may be irritable and we will most likely feel very tired.

Do you notice the signs when you have not eaten spiritually? They are possibly not too different. Your stomach is unlikely to hurt but you may well be irritable and you will probably feel spiritually tired and even physically tired too!

It is even more important than eating physically to eat spiritually each day and we of course do so by reading or hearing from a reliable translation of the Holy Bible that is as true to the original Greek and Hebrew meanings as possible (e.g. The English Standard Version).

Jeremiah 15: 16

'Your words were found, and I ate them, and your words became to me a joy and the delight of my heart, for I am called by your name, O Lord, God of hosts'.

This Scripture from Jeremiah is one of many Scriptures that show us the wonderful satisfaction in our soul we can experience even in difficult seasons if we read our Bibles properly and regularly.

Each word is a segment of Spiritual food, each verse a meal and each chapter a feast!

Do not neglect yourself by neglecting God's Word.

Remember, ask yourself daily: 'Did I eat (spiritually) today?' and if you did not or you do not feel satisfied enough, pick up your Bible and feast!

Like Jacob would not let go of the celestial being that he wrestled with in Genesis 32 until the celestial being blessed him, do not put your Bible down until you find something that nourishes you. If you are hitting a wall with your reading plan or whatever Scripture you are currently reading, put a bookmark in it for another time and search elsewhere in Scripture for nourishment.

May God bless you and satisfy your soul and increase our hunger for His Word and thirst for His Spirit increasingly!

Pastor Steve Brunton