It’s a common expression that we heard in school and in ads. To get healthy and stay healthy, we have to–remember? Eat right and exercise! And to emphasize the importance of our diets, people would stress that what you eat makes you who you are. If you eat lots of junk food, you’ll make yourself feel bad. Eat plenty of vegetables, whole grains, and fresh fruits, and you’ll feel better.
Diet affects our state of mind, too. Although it’s not impossible, it’s hard to maintain a positive outlook if your body is complaining to you about what you’re putting into it!
So while “you are what you eat” may exaggerate, it does communicate something important about physical and mental health. The phrase reminds us that our condition is, to some extent, under our control. Depending on how we feed ourselves, we can strengthen or damage our bodies and our attitudes. (Just don’t eat too much broccoli or you might turn into one!)
Does this apply in the spiritual realm?
I believe so!
God has given us His Word so we could feast on it and become all that He wants us to be.
Sweetness
You know how some foods which are good for us taste bad? Well, the Bible isn’t one of those! Twice the psalms compare Scripture to honey.
“The decrees of the LORD are firm, and all of them are righteous. 10They are more precious than gold, than much pure gold; they are sweeter than honey, than honey from the honeycomb.” – Psalm 19:9b-10
“How sweet are Your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth!” – Psalm 119:103
David didn’t compare the Bible to a donut, but he came close! In ancient Israel, honey was about the sweetest food someone could find. The people didn’t have access to cane sugar, molasses, or maple syrup. But honey was available. And valuable! It’s a treat that someone would really appreciate.
Do we view God’s Word that way? From the perspective of the psalmists, Scripture is sweet; it’s a delight to partake of it. And it’s just as satisfying.
Sustenance
Based on the verses above, we could view the Bible as some kind of spiritual dessert. It’s tasty, but we shouldn’t have too much. And we shouldn’t eat it everyday.
But God’s Word reveals itself as more than a confection; it’s basic nourishment. Without the Word, we’ll starve.
“‘The days are coming,’ declares the Sovereign LORD, ‘when I will send a famine through the land–not a famine of food or a thirst for water, but a famine of hearing the words of the LORD. 12People will stagger from sea to sea and wander from north to east, searching for the word of the LORD, but they will not find it.’” – Amos 8:11-12
During the days of Amos the prophet, the northern kingdom of Israel had rejected God and pursued the gods of the surrounding nations. So the Lord was planning to honor their decision. If they didn’t want Him, they wouldn’t get His Word, either. Even if they needed it. Even if they wanted it.
God’s Word comes to us on God’s terms. If our hearts are humble, He’ll speak to us. If we’re hungry for what He alone can provide, He’ll feed us.
Scripture will sustain us even more than food can. Jesus demonstrated this.
“Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. 2After fasting forty days and forty nights, He was hungry. 3The tempter came to Him and said, ‘If You are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.’ 4Jesus answered, ‘It is written: “Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.”’” – Matthew 4:1-4
We need bread, the staff of life, but we need the Word even more. Jesus went forty days without food, but the Bible kept Him.
It also prepared Him for His ministry. Christ endured this temptation, among others, in the wilderness, right before He launched His outreach to Israel.
And like Jesus, if we are to serve others, we must first take in God’s Word.
Service
“‘But you, son of man, listen to what I say to you. Do not rebel like that rebellious people; open your mouth and eat what I give you.’ 9Then I looked, and I saw a hand stretched out to me. In it was a scroll, 10which He unrolled before me. On both sides of it were written words of lament and mourning and woe.” – Ezekiel 2:8-10
God assigned Ezekiel the task of confronting the rebellious kingdom of Judah. The prophet had to announce the punishments that would befall the unrepentant.
And He said to me, “Son of man, eat what is before you, eat this scroll; then go and speak to the people of Israel.” 2So I opened my mouth, and He gave me the scroll to eat. 3Then He said to me, “Son of man, eat this scroll I am giving you and fill your stomach with it.” So I ate it, and it tasted as sweet as honey in my mouth. 4He then said to me: “Son of man, go now to the people of Israel and speak My words to them.” – Ezekiel 3:1-4
Sweet as honey–that’s God’s Word! Ezekiel had the same reaction that David did. Scripture is appealing, it’s healthy, it should be our delight. But for the Jewish people, the truth didn’t matter. Too caught up in their own interests, they had little time for the Word of the Lord. They deprived themselves of the sweet treat Scripture could have been for them. Instead, they would hear declarations of judgments.
Centuries later, the apostle John had a similar experience.
Then the voice that I had heard from heaven spoke to me once more: “Go, take the scroll that lies open in the hand of the angel who is standing on the sea and on the land.” 9So I went to the angel and asked him to give me the little scroll. He said to me, “Take it and eat it. It will turn your stomach sour, but ‘in your mouth it will be as sweet as honey.’” 10I took the little scroll from the angel’s hand and ate it. It tasted as sweet as honey in my mouth, but when I had eaten it, my stomach turned sour. 11Then I was told, “You must prophesy again about many peoples, nations, languages and kings.” – Revelation 10:8-11
Sweet and sour! Sounds like a Chinese dish! God’s Word tasted sweet, but it had a hard message. John experienced the sugary flavor of Scripture, but also the difficult truth he had to announce. The apostle accepted the responsibility to prophesy; he ate the scroll and it went just as the angel had told him.
If we are to consume what the Bible teaches, we must prepare ourselves to be able to communicate it to others. Sometimes, that will be pleasant; other times, we will face hostility and rejection. But people need to hear God’s Word, and Jesus wants to use us to share it.
Are we willing?
Self-Identity
The last observation is that the Word becomes our identity. We know who we are to the degree we know God’s truth.
Jesus is the ultimate example of this.
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God … 14The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us. We have seen His glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. – John 1:1, 14
He is the Word of God incarnate. God’s thoughts embodied in a Man. This is our Savior and Lord!
And even we can epitomize the gospel.
Are we beginning to commend ourselves again? Or do we need, like some people, letters of recommendation to you or from you? 2You yourselves are our letter, written on our hearts, known and read by everyone. 3You show that you are a letter from Christ, the result of our ministry, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts. – 2 Corinthians 3:1-3
When we, like Paul and others, share the gospel, we transform lives. They show what salvation looks like. And we get to celebrate with them the goodness of Jesus!
You are what you eat. So dig into the Word of God and fill yourself up. As you do, you’ll grow in Christ, and you’ll get strengthened to share the truth of the gospel with others.
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