DIGESTING THE WORD

DIGESTING THE WORD

READ:
Jeremiah 15:15-21

Your Word was to me the
joy and rejoicing of my
heart.  -Jeremiah 15:16

King James is famous for the Bible translation that bears his name.  But around the same time as the printing of the Bible, he also commissioned The Book of Common Prayer.  Still used today, this guide to intercession and worship contains a marvelous prayer for internalizing the Bible:  "Blessed Lord, who hast caused all holy Scriptures to be written for our learning; grant that we may...hear them, read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest them, that by patience, and comfort of [Your] holy Word, we may embrace and ever hold fast the blessed hope of everlasting life."

Many centuries earlier, Jeremiah the prophet expressed a similar way of letting the Scriptures nourish our hearts:  "Your words were found, and I ate them; and Your Word was to me the joy and rejoicing of my heart:  for I am called by Your name, O LORD God of hosts" (Jeremiah 15:16).  We internalize the Word as we "read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest" a passage of Scripture through prayerful meditation.

Ask the Lord to help you apply the Bible to your heart today.  Take time to ponder the meat and milk of the Word (Hebrews 5:12).  As you quiet your heart, God will teach you about Himself through His Book. - Dennis Fisher

Lord, I meditate on Your precepts and contemplate
Your ways.  I delight myself in Your statues; I
will not forget Your Word.  Open my eyes that
I may see wondrous things from Your law.
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Some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed,
and some few to be chewed and digested. -Bacon

INSIGHT
The prophet Jeremiah was called to his prophetic ministry in his youth (about 627 BC; see 1:6), and he was still faithfully serving 40 years later during the destruction of Jerusalem by the Babylonian invaders (about 586 BC).  He is often called the weeping prophet because his ministry is marked by grief and tears over the fall of the southern kingdom and the judgment they received.

Have a blessed day and week ahead.
God Our Creator's Love Always
Unity & Peace