ON THE VANGUARD

TIME AWAY
“For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.”
Hebrews 4:12

I spent the last few days moving into a new apartment with the help of my sister and youngest brother. In all honesty, the move went very well. We were able to get the furniture and boxes moved within two trips and no one got seriously injured. In fact, the only known casualty discovered so far was a lamp, which probably needed to be replaced anyway based on its age. But even with the Christian radio station playing in the background as we moved stuff out of one place and into another, I realized something. I realized that even one day away from the Word was one day too many.
One of the greatest benefits about writing these daily devotionals is that it keeps me daily in God’s Word. This makes for a great method of accountability. But, like a pitcher of water, water can only be given out from the pitcher if water continues to be poured into the pitcher. Therefore, in order for me to be able to share anything with you I must be being filled myself. It needs to be a continuous flowing. This idea seems to follow the words of Paul in Ephesians 5:18 where he tells us to be being filled with the Spirit. This must be a continuous action. If we fail to allow it to be continuous, then we become stagnant.
Yet going back to my realization from this weekend, I see now how desperately I need God’s Word. And although hearing others speak the Word is good, I see how I need to read and study it for myself. Statistics show that a person can go three days without water and about twenty-one days without food. My last moment where I sat down and read God’s Word for myself was back on Saturday. After three days of no nourishment from God’s Word, I honestly felt drained, parched, and famished. As I was thinking about this fact this morning, I began to see how the lack of God’s Word as my substance changed the way I reacted to my kids over the past few days. My fuse seemed to grow shorter, my frustration seemed to come sooner, and my overall level of stress sky-rocketed. I wasn’t just having a bad day – I was having empty days.
Getting back into God’s Word this morning was like eating a steak after a three week fast. I tasted it anew, craved it like never before, and had no problem with taking seconds. But it took me being starved to understand how much I needed and missed it. It took me being away to realize just how powerful God’s Word is for the nourishment of my body. It took me missing it to see what the author of Hebrews explains in Hebrews 4:12. The Word of God is nourishment. His Word is living and active. His Word goes into the crevices, into the streams of my physical body and spiritual being to rightly divide the fatty waste from the muscle. His Word judges my sin and grows me into the man He is calling me to be.
I cannot afford to be absent from His Word even one day, for one day is one day too many. I cannot afford to let the sin and starvation of life in when He offers such nourishment and life in His Word. I cannot afford a vacation from Him, or any time away, because when I do allow this I find myself depleting and spiritually dehydrating quickly. If I want to grow in His ways then I must eat and drink of His Word. There is no other place but in His Word that I find true life giving nourishment. Oh, I am hungry again. Excuse me while I go back to the buffet.