Don’t Just Wait for Someone to Feed You. Feed Yourself!

My youngest son John Wicks is growing up way too fast. It seems like just yesterday he was a newborn who depended on us for absolutely everything. Now, he’s almost a year old and is wanting to be more independent, especially when it comes to eating. Let me tell you, that boy loves to eat! Now, when we try to feed him something from a spoon he gets very upset and forcefully pushes the spoon away. However, if we simply place the food down in front of him, he will devour it. He wants to feed himself.

As Christians, we experience a similar spiritual reality when we are born again through repentance and faith in Christ( John 3:3). At first, we are wholly dependent on others to show and teach us God’s words (i.e. pastor, teacher, disciple-maker) and provide spiritual nourishment. Although we never completely outgrow our need to hear the Word of God taught through preaching and teaching, as we grow in faith we should be learning to feed ourselves. Furthermore, we should develop the discipline of feeding on the Word of God on a daily basis. Just as food and water bring life to promote and sustain our physical growth, God’s Word brings life to promote our spiritual growth and sustain our souls (Rom 10:17). Christians cannot live without the Word of God. We need it to grow in Christ-likeness (Matt 4:4). We need it to teach us what pleases God (2 Cor 5:9). The written Word is the means by which we are conformed into the likeness of the Living Word, Jesus Christ. To neglect regular reading of the Bible is detrimental to the health of the soul.

God’s Word speaks for itself, promising that it is profitable to teach us how to live. It confronts and corrects our wrong thinking and way of living. Furthermore, it trains us to become more like Christ. Though physically written by men it is divinely inspired by God (2 Tim 3:16-17). Therefore, the Bible is the very Words of God Himself. Wayne Grudem says, “since the Bible affirms that it is the very words of God, we are to seek to understand those words, for in doing so, we are seeking to know God himself. We are to seek and trust the words of Scripture, for in doing so, we are seeking to trust God himself. We are to seek to obey the words of Scripture, because in doing so, we are seeking to obey God himself.”

My prayer for you is that you would grow in your desire to feed yourself. Don’t just wait for someone else to feed you. There are many resources available to help you in this. Get a good study Bible. Pick a Bible reading plan. Buy a few easy-to-read commentaries.

Finally, I want to encourage you to commit to walk alongside someone else as you help them grow up in Christ. Show and teach them the Word. Help them get a grasp on what the Bible is about. Point them to Christ in the Old Testament. Use the New Testament to show them their new life and future inheritance in Christ. More importantly, help them learn how to feed themselves. Please contact me with questions about obtaining the best, most helpful resources for where you are in your faith walk.

*Blog adapted from the FBC Hartselle May 2014 Newsletter

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Theology Thursdays: The Sovereignty of God and the Book of Jonah

Jonah and The Sovereignty of God from the New Dictionary of Biblical Theology:

The first main theological statement in the book is forced from the lips of Jonah by the intense questioning of the sailors. In a creed-like statement Jonah confesses, 'I worship (Heb. 'fear') the Lord, the God of heaven who made the sea and the land' (1:9). In this confession, Jonah condemns himself: knowing this about God, he still chose to disobey. The statement describes the nature of God as revealed to Israel. The Exodus from Egypt had demonstrated that the Lord was the God of the sea and the land: the plagues, the deliverance at the Red Sea and the provision in the barren wilderness all manifested his remarkable control of nature.

God's sovereignty over the sea and the land is demonstrated in several ways in the book of Jonah. He 'sends' the storm (1:4); the verb means to cast or throw and it is used again when the sailors throw Jonah overboard. He calms the storm (1:15). He prepares a great fish to swallow Jonah, and later speaks to it causing it to vomit up its hapless passenger (2:10). The phenomenal growth of the planet shows that fertility is a gift of God (4:6). Even a worm furthers his plans (4:7).

God's power over nature is unrivaled: other gods are useless during the storm, and in the psalm of Jonah (ch. 2) idols are described as "worthless'. Jonah's declaration that God is the maker of heaven and earth reflects Israel's faith in the Lord as the supreme authority. As the psalmist declares, 'The sea is his, for he made it, and his hands formed the dry land' (Ps 95:5). 

- J. McKeown, New Dictionary of Biblical Theology: Exploring the Unity & Diversity of Scripture by Brian S. Rosner, T. Desmond Alexander, Graeme Goldsworthy and D. A. Carson, p.247

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