Topic: Are You Fasting or Feasting on God’s Word? [RICK WARREN Devotional 16 JANUARY   2023]

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Are You Fasting or Feasting on God’s Word?

BY RICK WARREN — JANUARY 16, 2023
FROM LIVING IN THE GOODNESS OF GOD

“How sweet your words taste to me; they are sweeter than honey.”

Psalm 119:103 (NLT)

After my wife, Kay, and I got engaged, we did something unusual: We moved to opposite sides of the world. She moved to Birmingham, Alabama, to work in an inner-city church, and I moved to Nagasaki, Japan, to plant a church. We were separated for most of our engagement.

In those days, we didn’t have cell phones. It cost $15 a minute to call Japan, and we were dirt poor. So we had only one alternative: writing letters. We each wrote a letter every day, and receiving hers was the highlight of my day during that time. The moment a love letter arrived, I would tear it open and read it. Then I would reread it and try to read between the lines. I’d underline and memorize portions of it. I was trying to gather every drop of love this woman had for me.

What if you read the Bible—God’s love letter to you—that same way?

If you’re not poring over the Bible, trying to glean every bit of wisdom from it, then you are not fully tasting the banquet that God has prepared for you. Psalm 119:103says, “How sweet your words taste to me; they are sweeter than honey” (NLT).

The Bible is full of nourishment; it has spiritual food that will keep you healthy.

Are you fasting or are you feasting on the Word of God? Keep in mind that going to church once a week and hearing a sermon is not a feast. If you only ate one meal a week, then you wouldn’t grow or be healthy.

Jesus said, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God” (Matthew 4:4 ESV).

You can truly taste the sweetness of God’s Word when you are feeding on it every day—reading it, studying it, and meditating on it—and letting it saturate your heart and mind.

Talk It Over

• Choose one section from Psalm 119, and read through it several times. Savor God’s words. What goodness and nourishment does God have for you from this passage?
• What’s one change you can make to your morning or evening routine that will create time to read and meditate on God’s Word?
• How does your desire to read God’s Word change when you think of the Bible as God’s love letter to you?

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