All of my life, it seems to me that I have been in a hurry for some
reason or other. For example, I have always been the first person at the
table to finish my meal. I never thought much about it until recently,
when God opened my eyes to some new truths.
I was facing surgery
and needed to lose some weight. But how? I had never been good at
dieting.
Then, the Lord began to point out some facts that I
hadn't considered.
Because of this bad habit, in my rush, I
always ate more than I needed, and often, even more than I enjoyed. If
it was a buffet, I wanted the best value for my dollar, which equated to
"eat all you can", not just to the point of satisfaction, but sometimes,
rather foolishly, even to the point of discomfort.
One day when I
saw my dog gulping down his food, I wondered how he even tasted it, let
alone enjoyed it.
Then, it hit me. How was I any different? What
an embarrassing thought! Even worse, it was the truth.
That's
when the idea came to me. If I wanted to lose weight, I had to learn to
eat and drink more slowly, in order to taste and enjoy my meal. In that
way, I would eat less. When I began to chew my food slowly and sip my
drinks instead of gulping them down, I actually began to taste the
different flavours, and everything began to change.
No, this is
not an ad for a diet. It's about a revelation. God had much more to
teach me.
One morning, when I was rushing through my Bible
reading because I had a long list of things to do, the Holy Spirit
stopped me in my tracks, so to speak. What are you getting out of this?
In truth, I was literally "gulping down the gospel". How could I
expect to get any spiritual insight or strength from what I read when I
never took time to "chew" the words and allow them to digest? In my
haste, I was going for quantity, not quality, just as with my eating
habits.
Today, I am listening and putting into practice what the
Lord taught me that day, both in my spiritual and physical life: to take
time to savour each bite of food that the Lord so generously provides,
and to savour the Word of God and all of my blessings so that I may be
ready at all times to glorify Him.
I hope that these words have
given my readers food for thought.
Let me leave you with this
question to consider: Are you getting the most nourishment possible from
the food that God supplies in His Word? May I suggest that you take the
time to chew every bite thoroughly? In short, savour every morsel, and
be strengthened with might in the inner man.
Prayer: Lord, we are
so thankful for Your loving patience. Help us to consciously savour all
of Your goodness, so that we may be equipped to carry out Your will in
our lives. Amen.
Sandycove Acres, Innisfil, Ontario, Canada
