Job 23:12 (NIV)
I have not departed from the commands of his lips;
I have treasured the words of his mouth more than my daily bread.
Job’s desire for God’s words was greater than his desire for food. Think about that. Wow. I wonder how many of us can say the same. How many of us honestly have a stronger appetite, a greater desire, a louder craving for the Word of God than we do for necessary, daily food?
One of my favorite bible teachers, Chip Ingram, says he lives by this rule: “No Word, No Bread.” He has established a personal discipline where he does not eat breakfast until he has first met with God through His Word. He is more concerned with feeding and filling His spirit than with pleasing and catering-to his flesh. We see this same priority structure woven all throughout scripture. From cover to cover God longs to be our chief appetite: “Let me be first. I want to be most important to you. Don’t let anything become more important than me, please! You cannot imagine what your life will become if you will only make me truly first. Do whatever you need to do and rearrange whatever you need to rearrange so that I and my Word will be your utmost desire.”
It is so easy to become enslaved by our appetites - for food, for money, for possessions, for relationships, for power, or for sex. There exists no shortage of worldly pursuits to which we can devote our time. There exists no lack of pleasures that distract us from a daily craving for the Word of God, a daily priority of seeking Him through His Word.
God’s Word is a timeless supply of wisdom that knows no bounds, a wealth of riches beyond our comprehension. It contains all that we need for the living of life! It will teach, correct, and guide us[1]—but not if we don’t read it. Not if we are so full of the things of this world that we have no room to hunger for Him.
May we be as Job and understand that the appetites of our flesh must not come before our appetite to know God through the pages of His Word!
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