Doughnuts

The only thing that I don't like about eating a doughnut is having someone nearby say, "Try to eat it without licking your lips!"

 

I have tried this once and only once.

 

And I only got a few mouthfuls in before I stopped. 

 

I find it the most irritating thing ever.  I don't like the feeling of sticky sugar coating my lips and making them feel fuzzy.  There is nothing at all enjoyable about the challenge.

 

I don't like the feeling of sugar on my lips.  But the Bible urges us to keep something on our lips, without wiping it away: His Word.

"Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it.  Then you will be prosperous and successful."

[Joshua 1:8 NIV]

 

There is not much point reading something and instantly forgetting it, letting it dissolve before it has taken root.  In the same way, we should keep God's words constantly in our minds and our hearts and on our lips.

"But don’t just listen to God’s word.  You must do what it says.  Otherwise, you are only fooling yourselves.  For if you listen to the word and don’t obey, it is like glancing at your face in a mirror.  You see yourself, walk away, and forget what you look like.  But if you look carefully into the perfect law that sets you free, and if you do what it says and don’t forget what you heard, then God will bless you for doing it."
 

[James 1:22-25 NLT] 
 

God urges us not to just to read and remember and obey His words, but to always have them on our lips. To keep them on the tip of our tongues, to let them flavour the words we use.

 

In the same way that the sugar can't help but stick to our lips when we eat a doughnut, I want God's Word to stick to my heart and to stick to my lips, every time I read it.

 

 

 

 

Digestives

Is there a more perfect biscuit than the humble digestive?

 

Sweet enough to dunk in your cup of tea (and better than some biscuits at holding its shape), yet salty enough to not make you feel sick after half a packet.*  Essential for any cheesecake base and delicious sandwiched together with chocolate spread.  Unassuming and humble, the digestive biscuit is both a British tradition and a household staple.**

 

Apparently the name 'digestive' came from the belief that these biscuits were good for your health and your digestion in particular.  Partially because of the sodium bicarbonate in the original recipe and its use to relieve indigestion, and partially because of the use of whole wheat flour, which is also good for digestion.

 

In the same way that digestives are good for our health, the Bible is good for our spiritual health and well being. 

 

But we shouldn't just read it - it was meant to be chewed over.  We are meant to meditate on it, to get the most out of it:

"Study this Book of Instruction [the Bible] continually. Meditate on it day and night so you will be sure to obey everything written in it."

 

[Joshua 1:8 NLT] 

 

Meditating on the Bible is similar to chewing and digesting our food.  We chew it slowly, letting the different juices and flavours seep out.  And we keep on chewing and digesting throughout the day - reflecting on the different things that it reveals and working it out in our own lives - learning to follow and obey what it says.

We won't learn much if we treat the Bible like ice-cream: something that we swallow quickly and which dissolves on the way down, before we have had the chance to meditate on it. 

We need something to chew on.

"But don’t just listen to God’s word.  You must do what it says.  Otherwise, you are only fooling yourselves.  For if you listen to the word and don’t obey, it is like glancing at your face in a mirror.  You see yourself, walk away, and forget what you look like.  But if you look carefully into the perfect law that sets you free, and if you do what it says and don’t forget what you heard, then God will bless you for doing it."

[James 1:22-25 NLT]

 

Digestives: good for our health.  Digesting God's Word: good for our spiritual health.

 

 

* Although I do strongly object to its accompaniment to the cheeseboard.  That's just wrong.

** And currently on offer in Sainsbury's.