Tuesday, December 4, 2012

Going Back for My Teeth

"This is the bread which came down out of heaven; not as the fathers ate and died; he who eats this bread will live forever" (John 6:58)

It was not my finest moment to be sure!  I knew that something was wrong when as I backed slowly down the driveway my tongue informed me that something was missing.  My teeth...I had forgotten my partial.  Quickly I stopped the car there in the driveway and ran back into the house to retrieve a very necessary item in order to face my day.  How embarrassing would that have been!  Surely I would have realized my mistake later as soon as I bit into a sausage biscuit.

I am convinced, believe it or not, that there is a tremendous spiritual lesson to be learned in this seemingly trivial experience of going back for my teeth.  You see, beloved, many professing Christians today treat God's Word as if it is something that is light and airy, an addendum to life, much like sprinkles on top of ice cream or flavoring on your favorite meat or vegetable or even, dare I use the analogy, "pixie dust" showered over us that is supposed to make us healthy and wealthy and satisfy every desire of our hearts.  We go to church and we allow the message to fall lightly upon us and then we leave the place of worship, glistening with a dusting of spiritual truth.  Maybe it will sink in and "flavor" us and maybe it won't.

I was fascinated to discover that Jesus spoke quite frankly about "eating" His body and His blood, of actually ingesting Him into our lives.  In fact, in the verse displayed above the word "eats" is from the Greek verb trogo which means literally "wear away" by crunching and grinding with the teeth.  Other forms of this Greek word, trogalia and trokta, refer to fruit and nuts that are used as dessert.  You get it...things that have to be chewed thoroughly and ingested.

If you are going to be a Christian, then, and I mean a serious follower of Jesus Christ, you must have your spiritual "teeth" with you at all times.  You've got to be able to "chew on" the truths of Scripture, to digest them thoroughly, to apply them vigorously to every situation that you face in life.  In other words, they have to become a part of you if you are going to "eat the bread" that will cause you to live forever.  Jesus is not an ice cream topping, beloved!  He is the "main course" and He must become your life if you are ever to realize God's great plan and purpose for your existence.  Go ahead!  Go back for your teeth!

Ron