Introduction - Food from Heaven

Ps 119:103 How sweet are Your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth! (NKJ)

There is nothing in this world more valuable than the Bible . All the gold in the world couldn't buy what this little book has to offer, the knowledge of God. When the words of this book enter a person's heart, he is changed forever. He will never be the same again, as the scripture says:

2 Cor 5:17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.

The Word of God brings God's life into us. One man explained it this way using the example of a seed, "A seed is that little thing that carries within it the very life of a plant or tree, and when planted in the ground, it imparts that life somewhere else." The Word of God reveals to us Gods life, His thoughts, His attitude, His affections, and His power. Jesus said:

John 6:51 "I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever."

As the bread of life we feed upon it, just as food. It nourishes us and when digested, it becomes part of us. In feeding upon the Bible, we take in who God is and the power of the Word of God enters us, and becomes our very own. When we think of eternal life we usually think of living forever, but according to the Bible, eternal life is much more than that. It is a quality of life. A taking in of the knowledge of God. As Jesus said when praying to the Father:

John 17:3 "And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent."

You may find it interesting that the word used here for "know" is the Greek equivalent for the Hebrew word meaning "intercourse." Therefore only the sexual union of a man and his wife becoming one could possibly picture what kind of union exists when a man takes in the Word of God and is supernaturally transformed.

2 Cor 3:18 "But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord."

The Word of God changes us like a tree that produces fruit. The fruit of God is His character and life working within us transforming us into the image of Jesus Christ Himself. The Bible makes this clear:

Gal 5:22-23 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.

Jn 15:5-8 5 "I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. 6 "If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned. 7 "If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you. 8 "By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples.

Yes, the Bible is much more than a book, and it should be valued more than anything else. The Bible contains riches and treasures beyond our greatest wishes. I believe God created us with something inside that is attracted to enjoyment and satisfaction. We find ourselves working hard so that we can earn the money to do things or to have things that will bring us pleasure. God's Word is the most pleasurable. It can bring out the deepest emotions of pleasure and satisfaction because it brings us close to God. Men of God said:

Ps 119:24 "Your words also are my delight and my counselors."

Lk 24:32 And they said to one another, "Did not our heart burn within us while He talked with us on the road, and while He opened the Scriptures to us?"

Job 23:12 I have not departed from the commandment of His lips; I have treasured the words of His mouth more than my necessary food.

Ps 119:103 How sweet are Your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth!

When we are close to God, we feel secure. We learn to trust Him in any circumstance. We find the best things in life. His Word opens us up as with a surgeon's scalpel. We learn about ourselves. The Bible can be so enjoyable. There's a multiplicity of things that happen to each one of us uniquely when we open the Scriptures. Through the Word we learn our purpose in life, God's will is established, and in turn we are fulfilled.

We can learn alot by examining the life of Christ. What did the Lord Jesus think about the Scriptures. The Word guided His every step, it was His food, and His strength. It was the weapon by which He could overcome every enemy. From beginning to end His life was the fulfillment of what had been written of Him in the "volume of the Book." Jesus constantly appealed to the Word. When He was tempted in the wilderness, He conquered Satan by saying, "It is written." When He was confronted by the Pharisees He would say, "What sayeth the Scripture?" "Have ye not read?" "Is it not written?" When His disciples questioned Him about His sufferings, He replied, "How otherwise can the Scriptures be fulfilled?" Even in His death, He quoted Scripture.

Jesus was the living Word, He had the Spirit without measure. Surely, He didn't need the written Word, yet It was everything to Him. I am convinced that Jesus could not have done what He did, had He not yielded Himself step by step to be led and sustained by the Word of God. The Scriptures were more than a book to Him, it was the Word of His Father, and His very life. When He quoted the Scriptures, He spoke from His deepest personal experience. When He said "Man shall not live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God," He really meant it and from the deepest part of Him. His life was a life of depending on the Word of the Father. He had His mind and heart so filled with the Word, the Holy Spirit could at any moment find within Him the perfect word for the need of the moment.

Jn 4:33-34 33 Therefore the disciples said to one another, "Has anyone brought Him anything to eat?" 34 Jesus said to them, "My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to finish His work.

When the Lord Jesus became man, He set an example for us to follow. He shows us what are the most important things in life, like being alone with God, enjoying Gods presence, doing God's will, love, patience, generosity, humility, kindness, and so on. May we follow Christ's example and allow the Spirit of God to fill us with a desire for the Father's Words. May we learn from Christ Himself how to make the Word our bread, and as it is digested, our very being. May we learn from God alone what our unique purpose is in this world and may His Word be, as David said, "a lamp unto our feet and a light unto our path."

Amen.

�1995 The Bible Knowledge Accelerator Created by Rusty Russell