God Never Speaks an Idle Word

God told the prophet Ezekiel to eat the scripture. “‘Son of man, eat what I am giving you—eat this scroll.’ So I opened my mouth and he fed me the scroll.”

(Notice that all Ezekiel had to do was open his mouth. He was merely a receiver.)
“‘Eat it all,’ he said. And when I ate it, it tasted as sweet as honey.

“Then he said, ‘Son of man, go to the people of Israel with my message.’” (Ezekiel 3:1-4 NLT.)

The idea was that Ezekiel would digest the word and turn it into his own flesh so people would see the Word of God in a living body rather than on a dead parchment. This is the change that occurs when we receive the Word into our lives. People once again see the Word become flesh.

What Jesus wants is not simple imitation (as Ronald Rolheiser says, no one does Jesus very well anyway!) but Jesus wants to live through us as we receive His Word, His life. Then we become the living Word.

With His words in our spirits, we have His life. Without them, our spirits are dead, empty, lifeless. We realize the truth that Jesus taught: without His words, “you have no life in you” (John 6:53).

Dear Lord, when I come to the Word of God, I come to comprehend but also to allow the Word to become expressed through me.

“They are not just idle words for you--they are your life” (Deuteronomy 32:47).