My daughter delights in reminding me that when she was a child and didn’t want to eat, I would sometimes force her to eat for dinner what she had refused to eat at noon. Now, seeing that she scolds her daughters if they dare to be picky with food, I smile when that happens!
As daughters of the Lord, we must confess that at times, even seasonally, we are not hungry for our spiritual food, the Word of God. When this happens, should we feel an obligation to “eat”, that is, read and digest the Bible?
Perhaps it helps us first to consider the reason for our lack of appetite when it comes to reading the Bible.
Reasons for our lack of appetite for the Bible
First, we may not understand how much we need to read the Bible! A small child ignores the facts: if he doesn’t eat, he won’t grow, his organs will deteriorate, and if he loses his appetite completely and stops eating, he could die.
Jeremiah confessed to God: “When your words appeared, I ate them” (Jer. 15:16). This “great” man of faith fed on the Word of the Lord because he knew that without it, there is no spiritual life. And our Savior, as a man, was nourished by the Word during his life and ministry. But sometimes we seem to think that nothing will happen to us if we don’t feed on the Bible, without realizing that we are depriving ourselves of the vital forces that keep us spiritually healthy, vigorous and alive.
It is convenient for us to see the seriousness of not nourishing ourselves with the Word. If we stop quenching our souls with this Bread of Life, let it not surprise us when we become spiritually weak and apathetic. We will be malnourished and it will show. “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God,” Jesus reminds us (Mt. 4:4). Yes, force yourself to read the Bible, sister, even if you don’t feel like it!
In second place, perhaps you have no appetite for Bible reading due to illness, physical exhaustion, depression, or a season of weakness. In that case, remember: we don’t force children to eat large amounts when they are sick, but they have to eat something! If not, your condition worsens.
The desire to read the Bible increases when we work to know it seriously
There are seasons when you can spoon-feed the Bible, and with some help (ready-made devotionals, listening to the Bible on audio, or consuming a smaller amount than you could normally digest). But sister, do not completely deprive yourself of nourishing yourself with the words that will remind you who is the sovereign Lord who accompanies you. They will tell you about your compassionate and powerful Savior, and they will bring you the necessary help from the Holy Spirit.
In third placeDon’t you feel like reading the Bible because you see it as boring, and its reading as a legalistic routine? “Oh no! again to eat? Lentils again?” the children complain. Do you complain in your spirit before the Word of the Lord? Don’t you feel identified with Jeremiah when he exclaimed: “When Your words appeared, I ate them; your words were to me the joy and gladness of my heart, because I was called by Your name, O Lord, God of hosts (Jer. 15:16)”? If you don’t want to “eat the words”, is it because you have forgotten the last words of the text we quoted? “For I was called by Your name, O Lord, God of hosts”.
Jeremiah felt privileged to be a servant of the Lord, to know himself included, astonishingly, in God’s plan that one day would bring about the Messiah. Oh, what a gift it is to be sure that God has placed his name on me in Christ, and that in the sweet pages of his Book I will come to know more about that Jesus who loved me so much that he wanted to rescue me. ! I will “eat” his words with “the joy and gladness” that Jeremiah experienced, when I remember what an unspeakably great privilege it is to have entered into a relationship with this God through the work of Christ. I will want to read his words, not as a legalistic routine, but with hunger and appetite, wanting to meet Him there.
Reading the Bible when you feel like it
How, then, can we read the Bible when we have no appetite for it? In my moments like this, these are some truths and practical advice that help me:
- If you are “no appetite” for any reason, do not stop reading. If you really can’t read much, read less, but do read!
Let’s not let our activity, even in church, leave us tired and without the desire to feed ourselves in the Word
- The desire to read the Bible increases when we work to know it seriously, studying it truly and diligently, underlining, making notes, researching, meditating ( that I recommend on the subject). “Don’t eat so fast!”, we warn our children. If we rush in reading the Bible, without going deep into the text to understand it as best we can, we won’t get much benefit. This, in turn, discourages us from reading more. Chewing, savoring, appreciating each bite in all its nutritious fullness, trying to ask the text questions, and finding the answers there, we will experience that the Bible is a delicacy. Some study aids can be useful, such as to see the context of a book, or the study guides that accompany some comments.
- Routines are important to physical eating. We die without eating, so we set the time and eat. Isn’t it going to be like that with the Bible?
- Don’t you read the Bible because it seems too routine to you? We know how to break the routine of daily meals. We added color, we changed the presentation, we tried some new recipes. Maybe you could try changing your reading plan or version.
- Active children, and tired boys, would skip food if allowed. Sister, let’s not let our activity, even in church, leave us tired and without the desire to feed ourselves in the Word.
- In your childhood, that person loved you when he said, “Eat! Eat!”. God urges you: “Eat! Read! ”, Because he wants your good. If there is an impulse within you saying, “It doesn’t matter if you read the Bible!”, don’t you think the enemy of your soul will agree with it?
- Don’t settle for “diet supplements” like other people’s devotionals, or online preaching. They are not “replacement meals”!
- “Think of the children without food!” they told me when I didn’t eat as a child. Well yes, I remember that many would like to feed on the Word, but they don’t have a Bible like me. I’m ungrateful when I don’t read it, only because “I don’t really want to!”
May the Lord enliven our passion for the Word and lead us to go deeper into it!