spiritual digestion

St Irenaeus talks to us today in A Year with the Church Fathers about the truth of the church vs the heresies that he faced every day. He said that in order to avoid the temptation to follow these crazy teachings, we should flee into the church.

In the church, we find the Scriptures. And we know they teach us the truth. Sometimes we're tempted to think that we know better than the Bible does. But it's much older and wiser than we are. So instead of second guessing it, we should take little bites from it and digest them.

You have, I'm sure, experienced what it's like when you read something really deep and you have to stop and let it "sink in". You have to digest what you read. The Bible gives you the deepest truth you'll find. So when we read it, we need to take small bites and let it digest. The living bread that Jesus is to us needs to be washed down by His living water. If we try to take too big a bite, we risk missing out on the nourishment that His bread will give us if we let it sink in.

Next time you pick up the Bible, read just one verse... or even just a few words. Let them do their work in your spiritual body. You'll find some powerful health there.

God, thank You for giving us life-giving words. Please help us learn to digest them.