Tuesday, May 13, 2014
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After all the hamburgers I have eaten in my life, I must be an expert. Now, when they say, "You are what you eat", oh that's scary. I'm the world's largest hamburger. I might have to spend the rest of my life on a bun. No, no, no. Well, my schedule actually sometimes leaves me no choice but fast food. I'm kind of stuck with something like a fast-food hamburger.
But, every once in a while, I can take a few minutes extra and go to our local restaurant that specializes in grilled foods. I'd rather do that. I can get one of those juicy, mouth-watering, succulent, tasty, real hamburgers. I know the difference between pre-cooked and fresh cooked. Fresh cooked takes longer, but it tastes great! When it comes to eating well, we know that fresh cooked is always better.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Fresh Cooked is Always Better."
Our word for today from the Word of God comes from Jeremiah 15:16. Jeremiah says, "When your words came, I ate them. They were my joy and my heart's delight, for I bear Your name, O Lord God Almighty." Now, Jeremiah here is excited about getting direct nourishment from God's Word. He's got his spiritual food fresh, not pre-cooked.
We live in a world that is loaded with "helps" for getting spiritual nutrition. Oh, man, there are a lot of devotional books around; shelves and shelves of them at the Christian book store and they're good. There are these radio programs that people do, or so I've heard. There are lots of sermons, conferences. You can hear messages live, you can hear them on CD, you can hear them on the internet, you can get them on DVD if you like the way the guy looks. There are a lot of things out there that are available, and they're all good. But in a sense, it's all pre-cooked through someone else's life.
For them, when God spoke it to them through His Word, it was fresh. For you, it's sort of spiritual fast food. I mean, we live in a time when time is really precious. We want to have our time with the Lord, but we want to have it quick; sort of microwave Jesus time. So we grab a devotional Big Mac or Whopper, and it's better than nothing. But the heart of your intimacy with your Lord is when you go direct - you to Him/Him to you. You maybe need to put all those helps away for a little while. They're just supplemental. Get your Bible open; speak to the author. Ask Him to connect those words that came from His heart to your heart. And then to something going on in your life, let God's words pass from His heart to yours and no one in the middle. Takes a little longer, just like fresh cooking does, but it's so much better.
That's why Jeremiah says, "I got it from You straight Lord. Your words came. I ate them. My joy, my heart's delight." The Psalmist in Psalm 119 prayed, "Show me wonderful things from Your law O Lord." What a prayer to pray! Every day, "Oh, Lord, show me some wonderful things from Your Word." He said, "I get Your word from Your mouth."
Okay, you meditate on His Word. What does that mean? It means to simply think about it until you have connected it to something that's happening in your life right now. You don't just read the Bible. The Bible should read you. It's supposed to be a life-changer; changing something in your day. You pray through what you have just read and say, "Lord, make it come alive in my heart, make it come alive in my mind, and make it come alive in my life today." And then write down what God has said to you and what you feel you should do about it. Write it down in a journal; put it in your own words. Write down, "What did God say to me today and what am I going to do about what He said?"
Don't just rely on someone else's experience with God's Word. Get it from God direct to you. Don't let a busy schedule or spiritual laziness rob you of a meal God is preparing just for you, just for today-fresh cooked.