spiritual anorexia
“Open your mouth and eat what I shall give you.” —Ezekiel 2:8
The Lord commanded Ezekiel to eat a scroll covered with messages of “lamentation and wailing and woe” (Ez 2:10). This hardly sounds like a tasty treat, but Ezekiel found it “as sweet as honey” in his mouth (Ez 3:3).
“How sweet to my palate are Your promises, sweeter than honey to my mouth!” (Ps 119:103) God’s Word, including even the most difficult of His words, is sweet, nourishing, and fulfilling. God’s Word is not only like honey but also like bread, milk, and meat (Mt 4:4; Heb 5:12; 1 Cor 3:2). We should be as eager to eat God’s Word as infants are for their mothers’ milk. God’s Word is the pure milk of the Spirit to make us grow unto salvation, now that we “have tasted that the Lord is good” (1 Pt 2:2-3).
Although God’s Word is as sweet as honey, as necessary as bread, as nourishing as milk, and as filling as meat, many Christians rarely read the Word. We have become spiritually anorexic and have lost our appetite for the things of God. We have so stuffed ourselves with worldly concerns that we have ruined our appetite “for food that remains unto life eternal” (Jn 6:27).
Therefore, we must dramatically simplify our lifestyle. Then our spiritual appetite for God’s Word will return. We will devour God’s Word (Jer 15:16) and have the strength to be everything the Lord wants us to be.
Prayer: Father, may they know I’m a Christian by my lifestyle.
Promise: “It is no part of your heavenly Father’s plan that a single one of these little ones shall ever come to grief.” —Mt 18:14
Praise: Have you ever heard of an enraged father storming a Benedictine convent? This is precisely what happened when St. Clare abandoned her wealth for a life of poverty. Our Father was victorious over her father.
Reference:
Rescript: "In accord with the Code of Canon Law, I hereby grant the Nihil Obstat for One Bread, One Body covering the period from August 1, through September 30, 2020. Most Reverend Joseph R. Binzer, Auxiliary Bishop, Vicar General Archdiocese of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, Ohio October 1, 2019"
The Nihil Obstat ("Permission to Publish") is a declaration that a book or pamphlet is considered to be free of doctrinal or moral error. It is not implied that those who have granted the Nihil Obstat agree with the contents, opinions, or statements expressed.