It is not sufficient to understand the Bible—we also need to eat the words of the Bible. Jeremiah 15:16 says, “Thy words were found, and I did eat them.” Furthermore, Matthew 4:4 says, “Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that proceeds out through the mouth of God.” The Bible is not only good for reading and studying, but, even the more, it is especially good for eating. Oh, we need to eat the Word of God!
The best way to eat the Word is to pray-read. If we want to enjoy the bountiful supply of the Spirit, we need to eat the Word. We have pointed out that the bountiful supply of the Spirit is equal to the riches of Christ and that the riches of Christ are embodied in the Word. Therefore, to enjoy the riches we must pray-read the Word.
The riches of Christ have certain basic elements. The first is divinity, and the second, humanity. In Christ we have true divinity and a proper, uplifted humanity, a humanity which expresses God. The third element of the riches of Christ is the human living of the Lord Jesus. The human living of the Lord Jesus was altogether wonderful. In His human life on earth God was expressed. The fourth element is His wonderful, all-inclusive death on the cross. The next ingredient is Christ’s resurrection. We may use a carnation seed to illustrate resurrection. After a carnation seed is sown into the earth, it sprouts, grows, and develops, and eventually a carnation blossom appears. This is a picture of resurrection. Resurrection is a matter of rising up and growing up in life. After the Lord Jesus was crucified and buried, He rose up. In the illustration of the carnation seed, we see not only the growth of life, but also the life shape, the life function, and the life power. Christ’s resurrection with all these aspects is another element of His riches. Yet other ingredients are Christ’s ascension and His glorification, with His enthronement.
The New Testament reveals Christ’s divinity, humanity, human living, death, resurrection, and glorification with enthronement. Along with these seven basic elements, there are innumerable other ingredients: light, life, love, holiness, righteousness, peace, joy, patience, kindness, wisdom. All these, however, are subordinate elements; the primary elements are divinity, humanity, human living, death, resurrection, ascension, and glorification.
All these marvelous elements of the riches of Christ are embodied in the Bible. But they are not embodied in the Word in a systematized way. The Word of God simply cannot be systematized. God’s riches are too profound for this.
We have pointed out that in the Bible there is embodied the bountiful supply of the Spirit. Furthermore, we have seen that the Spirit and the Word actually are one. Because the Word is the Spirit and the Spirit is the Word, they cannot be separated.
When we read the Word, we should mingle our reading with prayer. As we exercise our eyes and our mind, we should also exercise our spirit to touch the Spirit. Then all that is in the Word will become in our experience the bountiful supply of the Spirit.
Let us use Psalm 133 to show the difference between analyzing the Bible and enjoying the nourishment contained in it by pray-reading. In their time of personal devotions, some Christians may read Psalm 133. As they read, they may begin to analyze and to ask about the precious ointment, the beard, the skirts, the dew, and Mount Hermon. Instead of receiving the bountiful supply, they are left with many unanswered questions. But if we pray-read Psalm 133, we shall take this portion in the way of life. As we pray-read, we may say, “Behold, amen! How good and how pleasant, amen.” By taking the Word in this way, we shall apply the all-inclusive Spirit to our inner being. By pray-reading we exercise our spirit to receive spiritual nourishment from the Word. Through this nourishment we grow in life. We are nourished with the words of faith and healthy teaching. If we take even as little as ten minutes to pray-read a portion of the Word, we shall receive nourishment. Furthermore, we shall experience the various elements of Christ’s riches.
On the one hand, the food we eat each day nourishes us; on the other hand, it contains elements that kill germs. There is no need for us to try to kill the germs in our body. We should simply eat properly and allow the elements in the food we eat to accomplish this work. In like manner, through pray-reading the Word, we experience both nourishment and the putting to death of the negative things within us. As we pray-read, we unconsciously and automatically partake of the basic elements of Christ’s riches: divinity, humanity, human living, death, resurrection, ascension, and glorification. On the one hand, the element of Christ’s all-inclusive death kills the negative things within us. On the other hand, His resurrection strengthens us and builds us up. This does not come from outward teaching, but from inward nourishing.
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