"Say," Mr. Jensen continued, "did you know that you could eat three big meals like this every day and still starve to death?"
"Starve to death?" Julie responded with surprise. "How?"
#5: Eating His Word
A Character story about diligence.
Eating His Word (#5)
"Time for breakfast you two," Mrs. Jensen called from the bottom of the stairs. "Get going or you'll be late for school." Jason and Julie bounced down the stairs and into the kitchen.
"Oh, boy!" Julie cheered. "Cinnamon toast. My favorite!" When the family was seated, Mr. Jensen thanked the Lord for the food.
"Please pass the brown sugar, and a piece of toast," Jason called out. "I'm starved!"
"Calm down," Mr. Jensen chuckled. "I doubt that you're starved. He handed the brown sugar to Jason who scooped out a spoonful and dumped it on his oatmeal. Mr. Jensen continued. "Say, did you two read your Bibles this morning?"
"Yeah," Julie responded and took another bit of cinnamon toast.
"And how about you, Jason?" Mrs. Jensen asked.
"I read it, but I can't say I got anything out of it," Jason confessed. "it just seems too hard to understand and even harder to see how it will help me during the day."
"Well, that's a good, honest statement, Son," Mr. Jensen said. "Lots of grownups feel the same way. Where were you reading?"
"I was reading in Leviticus, chapter 22, I think."
Mr. Jensen smiled. "Well, that's some difficult material anyway. Maybe you should start with something that would be a little easier to understand."
"Any suggestions?" Julie asked between mouthfuls.
"How about starting with the book of Proverbs. This book was written by a father to give his son wisdom which he would need in facing problems. But let me warn you, it still is not easy. In fact, in Proverbs chapter two it says that we must search His Word like someone digging for buried treasure."
"Mmmm," Jason mumbled with a mouthful of oatmeal. "Please pass the toast. Yah, I see what that means. Maybe I haven't really worked at it enough."
"Say," Mr. Jensen continued, "did you know that you could eat three big meals like this every day and still starve to death?"
"Starve to death?" Julie responded with surprise. "How?"
"Well, our bodies need food to grow and to give us energy. The food in our stomachs hasn't done us one bit of good yet. The chemicals in the food are usually too large to be taken into the blood stream. First they have to be broken down into smaller chemicals so they can be absorbed."
"Is that what stomach acid does?" Jason asked, biting into his fourth piece of toast.
"A little. The main work is done by chemicals pumped into the food after it leaves the stomach. The food goes from the stomach into the small intestine ... which is right here." Mr. Jensen pushed on Jason's stomach area.
"Oof. Not too hard, please. I'm getting full!"
Mr. Jensen continued. "The small intestine is a long, narrow tube which is doubled up just below the stomach. Believe it or not, in adults it is twenty feet long."
"Twenty feet?" The twins responded with surprise. "In such a small space?"
"Yup. As the food works its way through this tube, chemicals from the liver, pancreas, and the small intestine itself work on it to make the food chemicals small enough to be absorbed. And here is an interesting fact: The small intestine has four sets of muscles which turn that food every which direction so that all the nutrition possible can pass through the wall of the intestine into the blood stream. Those smaller food chemicals can then give us new body cells, blood cells, and energy."
"This is really interesting," Jason remarked, "but I think we got off the subject. We were talking about how to study the Bible."
"Right," Mr. Jensen grinned. "You see, your body takes time and effort to get nutrition from food and into the blood where it will do you some good. God compares His Word to food. Jeremiah said, 'Thy Words were found, and I did eat them; and Thy Word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine heart...' If we really want to get nourishment from the Bible that will help us through the day, we will have to take the time to think about it, ask questions, and find out what it means. Then we should ask God to help us apply the truths during the day's activities. I often put a verse on a card so I can go over it at different times during the day. That helps me remember what I read that morning."
"We're kind of like digesting the Bible, right Daddy?" Julie added.
"Exactly right, Sissy." Mr. Jensen glanced at his watch. "Oh, look at the time. We'd better get you guys off to school."
"Yeah, and maybe we can digest our Math and Science today too, huh?" Jason suggested.
"Good idea," Mr. and Mrs. Jensen agreed with a grin.