Two-Fisted Faith
I have a friend who loves to eat. I find this irritating, because she is one of those people who remain perfectly thin, despite their large daily caloric intake. She has been nick-named “Two-Fisted Rachel”, as a result of her habit of filling both hands with food during meals. When sharing a meal with Rachel, I generally stop eating and find myself staring at her, because something about her pure enjoyment of her meal is just fascinating.
Once, I was talking to Rachel while she was at work, and she mentioned that it was time for her “second breakfast”. This was a reference to J.R.R. Tolkien’s writings, in which the creatures known as hobbits are very fond of eating. Hobbits actually ate at least seven meals a day- breakfast, second breakfast, elevenses, luncheon, afternoon tea, dinner, and supper. Now, although we are not called to gluttony, people who love Jesus should really follow the Hobbits’ example. “How is this type of over-indulgence a positive thing?” you may well be thinking.
Recently, God has been speaking to a lot about eating. This might seem odd, but I know that He is not referring to physical food, but rather feasting in the Spirit. The Lord has been calling me to be two-fisted in my consumption of Him. I believe that we are all called to feed on, taste, and delight in God- to take ALL all that He offers us and devour it.
God’s desire to feed His people well is shown throughout Scripture. It is not insignificant that the Fall of man described in Genesis resulted from Eve and Adam’s refusal to delight themselves in the food that was offered to them in the garden, and instead ate the one fruit that was forbidden by God. Eve was tempted to eat the forbidden fruit because she felt that it was, “good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make one wise (Genesis 3:6).” In essence, Adam and Eve refused God’s food, instead found their own food, and this resulted in sin entering creation.
So, what does it mean to be fed by God? I was asking the Lord what that entails, and He led me to different parts of Scripture. First of all, God doesn’t feed us crap. He doesn’t offer me the crumbs on the floor, or a stale meal. His food is lavish, it is delicious, and it is free. “Ho! Everyone who thirsts, come to the waters, and you have no money come, buy and eat. Come, buy wine and milk without cost. Why do you spend money for what is not bread, and your wages for what does not satisfy? Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good, and delight yourself in abundance. (Isaiah 55: 1,2)
Eating = Listening
Feeding requires listening, because God’s main food for our souls is His word. Delighting in abundance means that God is always speaking to me, and I must choose to listen to what He has to say. Scripture often shows that God is begging His people to listen and eat. “Oh that my people would listen to Me, that Israel would walk in My ways! I would quickly subdue their enemies and turn My hand against their adversaries…But I would feed you with the finest of wheat, and with honey from the rock I would satisfy you (Ps. 81:13, 14, 16). God’s finest food for me comes when I listen and submit myself to what He is doing.
Jesus described himself as the Bread of Life, and the Living Water. “I am the living bread that came down out of heaven; if anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever” (John 6:51).” Since Jesus is literally the Word of God, (John 1:14), knowing Him well is also feeding. My challenge is to keep feeding on the bread continually- I need to constantly graze on God’s words to me. I need to pig out like a hobbit throughout the day! I should be two-fisted in my pursuit of being near Jesus, and hearing what God is saying to me through the Holy Spirit. Also, “whoever drinks of the water I will give him will never thirst; but the water that I will give him will become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life (John 4:14)” I desperately want that water to spring up in my life, but how can I remind myself to keep drinking?
Hunger Comes From Humility
Matthew 6:5 says, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled.” I have found that I can position myself to feel hungry for God when I embrace humility. Most humans spend all of their time and energy trying to fill the need that we all innately feel for a relationship with God. However, God is all-powerful, and “he has done mighty things with his arm; He has scattered those who were proud in the thoughts of their heart. He has brought down rulers from their thrones and has exalted those who were humble. He has filled the hungry with good things, and sent the rich away empty-handed.(Luke 1:53)” If I realize that I am hungry for something other than God, it is a sign that I have not humbled myself. Conversely, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied (Matt. 5:6).
God Feeds Us When We Remove Our Idols
Of course, idolatry prevents us from feeding on God. If I fill my hunger with anything else, anything less than Jesus, I can’t enjoy his delightfully abundant food. God has been dealing with me very seriously on this point recently, and He is not willing to tolerate any idolatry in my life. “Here, O My people, and I will admonish you; O Israel, if you would listen to Me! Let there be no strange god among you; nor shall you worship any foreign god. I, the Lord, am your God, who brought you up from the land of Egypt; Open your mouth wide and I will fill it.” If idolatry is the same thing as feeding myself, than removing any idol from my life helps me to open my mouth wide to receive everything that God is trying to put in it.
Trials Give Us A Hungry and Thirsty Soul
Since the entire Bible speaks so much about the hungry and thirsty soul, it’s obvious that God thinks it is a Big Deal, and not to be ignored. But other than a position of humility, how can I maintain this hunger? Psalm 107:4-9 shows that trials are actually a gift, in that they produce this hunger and thirst in the people of God. In this passage, God’s people are in trouble. “They wandered in the wilderness in a desert region; they did not find a way to an inhabited city. They were hungry and thirsty; their soul fainted within them. Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble; He delivered them out of their distresses. He led tem also by a straight way, to go to an inhabited city. Let them give thanks to the Lord for His lovingkindness, and for His wonders to the sons of men! For He has satisfied the thirsty soul, and the hungry soul He has filled with what is good.(Ps. 107: 409)” God is close to a fainting soul!
Indifference and Hardness of Heart
What if I’m not hungry? What do I do then? In Revelation, God has a message for the church of Laodicea, whom He describes as “lukewarm”, a reference to their indifference. He says that He wants to dine with them! But God also says that “those whom I love, I reprove and discipline; therefore be zealous and repent.” After repentance, He is standing at the door and knocking; He says that “if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with Me” (Rev . 3:19, 20). In order to enjoy a meal with the Lord, I must repent from indifference first.
Second Breakfast
In my pursuit of two-fisted faith, I have realized that I can’t be satisfied with the normal amount of feeding on God’s word. I need to “taste and see that the Lord is good” -constantly (Ps. 34:8). I get my second breakfast when I ask for it, by “putting aside all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander”, and “like(a) newborn baby long for the pure milk of the word, so that by it (I) may grow in respect to salvation”, since I have “tasted the kindness of the Lord.” (1 Peter 3:1-3. Tasting his kindness is finding and experiencing God in the details of my life. I let Him talk to me about EVERY STUPID DETAIL of my life, and then I taste His kindness. I love this, because it shows that I’m His bride. As in Song of Solomon, He is the bridegroom, and “He has brought me to his banquet hall, and his banner over me is love”(Song of Solomon 2:4). Since I sit at a huge table, with amazing food, in the banquet Hall of a King, I will never stop eating like a hobbit!
