Feeding on the Word

“Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written in it; for the time is near” (Rev. 1:3). These are the opening words of the prophecy of End Times. They speak of the urgency of following the commands of Christ, “for the time is near.”

There are three participles here that are translated “reads,” “hear,” and “keep.” All three participles are in the present tense. Reading, hearing, and keeping the truths taught in the book of Revelation (and in the rest of Scripture) are to be a way of life for believers.

In Luke 11:28 Jesus said, “Blessed are those who hear the word of God and keep it!” Not only in the book of Revelation, but in the Scriptures as a whole we are commanded to read, hear, and “keep those things which are written in it.” Reading the Word, listening to what it says, truly hearing it, doing what it tells you to do, and living it in your life every day, brings God’s blessing into your life. As a Christian that is what you must do.

Let’s look at our main text: Jeremiah 15:16 says, “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.” When you are called by His name, when you are called “Christian,” your life will be one of joy and rejoicing because of His Word. Your life will be lived out daily in keeping with His commands. In fact, your life will be one of feeding on the Word of God. It will be your very life-source.

To know God’s Word involves three stages according to both the Revelation and the Jeremiah passages. Revelation 1:3 refers to “he who reads” the Word, and “those who hear” the Word, and those who “keep those things which are written in” God's Word. Jeremiah 15:16 speaks of finding God’s Word, eating God’s Word, and rejoicing in God’s Word.

Before we can take God’s Word into our souls and digest it and live by it, we must know what it says. We must find it. And to find it we must seek diligently for it. There is a certain amount of searching involved. Before we can obey God’s Word we must discover just what His Word says. We must read it and study it.

To walk with God, you need to know Him. To obey His commands, you need to know what He says. Both involve spending time reading the Word, studying it, taking it in. The Lord reveals Himself in His Word, so the best way to get to know Him is to read His Word. Jeremiah 29:13 says, “You will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart.” Search the Word “with all your heart” and you will find God, you will find the Lord Jesus.

As you read and study the Word, you begin to discover what God says. As you discover what He says, you need to digest it, get it inside of you, and make it a part of you. Only then can you begin to truly live it. That is what Jeremiah means when he speaks of eating the Word of God. Meditate on the Word and let it soak in. Get to know the Word thoroughly and it will become part of you. Then seek to live according to God’s Word. Only when it becomes so much a part of us that our whole life begins to change and we find ourselves living by that Word, can we declare with Jeremiah the prophet, “Your words were found, and I ate them” (Jer. 15:16).

Take a small portion of God’s Word each day—a verse or two, a promise, a command, a duty of the new life—receive it into your heart, yielding all of yourself to its rule, making up your mind in the power of Jesus to perform it; then obey it. That is eating God’s Word; taking His Word into your innermost being, so that it becomes an integral part of your life.

When you “read” God’s Word and study it, when you “hear” God’s Word and listen to it intently, making it a part of your life, when you “keep those things which are written in it” (Rev. 1:3), then you can say with Jeremiah, “Your word was to me the joy and rejoicing of my heart” (Jer. 15:16b).

To live God’s Word, to live by all of its commands, is what the Christian life is all about. To live God’s Word, to live by all of its commands, is what your life should be all about. You must diligently seek after Christ, to follow Him and to become like Him. Living God’s Word in such a way will always give cause for rejoicing.

When you let God’s Word dwell in you and become a part of you, you will be blessed. You will truly experience Christ in your life and your heart will rejoice, and all because you are called by His name—you are called “Christian”—one who follows Christ and lives for Him. Do not settle for anything less. Amen.