God's Word Satisfies

One consequence of enjoying a delightful, satisfying meal is it kills the appetite to eat more.  Many times I have declined to even look at the dessert menu filled with tasty treats because I was already full!  Compare this with conversations I have had with children soon after dinner who complained they were still hungry.  I would ask, "If you're hungry, why didn't you have more dinner?"  It was evident the foods supplied for dinner weren't their "favourite thing" by later angling for something different.

Have you ever been to an "all you can eat" buffet?  For people with a ravenous appetite this offering sounds very appealing.  My typical approach to a new buffet I have never tried is to walk through and see the range of what is on offer.  Unfortunately, quantity does not always equate with high quality.  Typically there will be something I find appetising, but there have been rare occasions when I went home from a buffet hungry because there was not much I wanted to eat.  I was full of my own ideas of how fried food, baked chicken or scrambled eggs ought to look like or smell.  Instead of a hungry man ready to eat all that was provided, I was caught up in my own personal tastes and preferences.

Now hygienic food preparation and quality ingredients are very important, but my point is my pickiness at times has led to the nutritional needs of my body remaining unmet.  The same can be true concerning the word of God.  Christians who view themselves as well-versed in scripture and faith can be bored with the offerings from a pulpit or in a Bible study because they are too, well, basic or simple.  This isn't a new phenomenon as C.H. Spurgeon wrote in Lectures to My Students his preaching wasn't "deep" enough for some discerning folks.  Adam Clarke wrote in his commentary, "But still the question has been asked, Who was Elihu? I answer, He was “the son of Barachel the Buzite, of the kindred of Ram:” this is all we know of him. But this Scriptural answer will not satisfy those who are determined to find out mysteries where there are none." (Clarke, A. (2014). The Holy Bible with a Commentary and Critical Notes New Edition, Vol. 3, p. 143)  There are believers who are bored and dissatisfied with scriptural answers, and I don't want to be one of them.

God has revealed many mysteries to us through His word and has made evident what was once hidden from angels and men.  The Gospel is one of these things, the power of God unto salvation by grace through faith.  It is not a doctrine to memorise and file away but to be lived out every day as we follow Jesus obediently.  The purpose of doctrine is not to temporarily satisfy intellectual curiosity but to be received into our inmost being:  to satisfy our souls, guard our hearts, and guide our hands and feet to do all God has said.  Those who are bored with the basics do not truly understand them.  Better than seeking to find our mysteries where there are none, it is good for us to take God at His word.  If reading the word itself does not satisfy, it may be you have yet to receive what God has said.  Wait on the LORD and be of good courage, for Jesus leads His sheep to pastures of green and satisfies our souls.