Don’t Feast on Yesterday’s Meal

The Bible is our spiritual nourishment in the Christian life. Through reading and obeying God’s Word, we learn about the Lord, how to follow Him, and the promises He has made. In the Bible lie the answers to all our questions, the solace for all our pains, and the clarity for all our confusion. God Himself, the creator of the universe, has revealed Himself to us in this book! This is a wondrous fact, yet we often overlook it or take it for granted. 

I share this because I have noticed that tendency in my own life. Instead of treating my intake of the Holy Bible like daily bread, I feast on yesterday’s meal, relying on what I have already read or studied rather than continuing to dive deeper into the rich truths to be discovered. Or, perhaps you don’t read the Bible for yourself, and instead you depend on what you hear in sermons or small groups. These practices can be dangerous in the life of the Christian, especially when they become the norm. 

At my church, we have recently been going through the book of 1 John, and in 1 John 2:12–14, John gives us the key to Christian maturity. He writes to fathers, young men, and children. These are not meant to be literal ages or stages of life, but rather Christians in various stages of maturity. At the end of this section, however, John closes by writing to “young men because you are strong, and the word of God abides in you, and you have overcome the evil one” (v. 14). 

In the Christian life, the way for us to progress from being a child to these more mature roles is for the Word of God to abide in us. This is why you may know a teenager who has been walking with the Lord for years who is more spiritually mature than an individual in their seventies who only recently came to faith. To become like Christ and grow in Him, we must let the Word of God abide in us. We must read it, meditate upon it, pray through it, and treasure it daily. 

My encouragement to you, reader, is to not feast on yesterday’s meal. Don’t be satisfied with what you already know while remaining a spiritual child. Instead, chase after Jesus as hard as you can, abiding in His Word, and see the difference that He will make in you.

“Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.” Psalm 119:105