When your words showed up, I ate them - swallowed them whole. What a feast! What delight I took in being yours, O God, God-of-the-Angel-Armies! (Jeremiah 15:16)
"Only take care, son of man, that you don't rebel like these rebels. Open your mouth and eat what I give you." When I looked he had his hand stretched out to me, and in the hand a book, a scroll. (Ezekiel 2:8-9)
The voice out of Heaven spoke to me again: "Go, take the book held open in the hand of the Angel astride sea and earth." I went up to the Angel and said, "Give me the little book." He said, "Take it, then eat it." (Revelations 10: 8-10)
"Christians feed on Scripture. Holy Scripture nurtures the holy community as food nurtures the human body. Christians don't simply learn or study or use the Scripture; we assimilate it, take it into our lives in such a way that it gets metabolized into acts of love, cups of cold water, missions into all the world, healing and evangelism and justice in Jesus' name, hands raised in adoration of the Father, feet washed in company with the Son.
"'...Don't just take notes on the sermon. Eat the book.' And John did it. He put away his notebook and pencil. He picked up his knife and fork. He ate the book.
"The Christian community has expended an enormous amount of energy and intelligence and prayer in learning how to 'eat this book' after the manner of John on Patmos, Jeremiah in Jerusalem, and Ezekiel in Babylon. We don't have to know all of it to come to the Table, but it helps to know some of it, especially since so many of our contemporaries treat it as a mere aperitif. The strong angel's command is also an invitation. Come to the Table and eat this book, for every word in the book is intended to do something in us, give health and wholeness, vitality and holiness to our souls and body." (Eugene Peterson, Eat This Book)
Being at the Table with you all this year has been an incredible feast. Sometimes sweet, sometimes bitter, but always life-giving. I'm glad it's not time to do the dishes yet - the Bread of Life has much more to offer our hungry souls!
1 comment:
Rev 12:11 just unnerves me. God provided a "place of safety" for the Woman---it was the wilderness. All her comforts provided for 1,260 days, like 4 years! Alone in the midst of temptation. This was God's provision. My thinking is upside down. My flesh doesn't want to be in difficult circumstances seeing God's provision. My definition of safety is oh so different. Over one year and 4 months ago, we packed all our belongings into a 10X10 Public Storage unit. God has provided every single day to this day. That's all I know. So this story means much to me. Will remember it for a long time. This is how God provided for The Woman he so loved.
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