A Framework for Faith/Spiritual Vision

Wherefore we beseech Thee that we may know the thing we love, since we pray for nothing other than Thyself to be given to us; for Thou art our all, our life, our light, our salvation, our food, our drink, our God.

  - Columban, Sermon XIII (Irish, 7th century)

I say to the LORD, "You are my Lord; I have no good apart from you"...The LORD is my chosen portion and my cup; you hold my lot.

  - Psalm 16.2, 5

It's surprising the ways Scripture presents our relationship with God in terms of us partaking of Him as a meal. Jesus, most famously, said we must eat His body and drink His blood if we would be saved. Job, Jeremiah, and John related to the Word of God as to a meal. David wrote of feasting on the abundance of God's house and drinking from the river of delights. Jesus called on the thirsty to come to Him and drink.

Columbanus taught his monks to see their relationship with the Lord in such culinary terms, following these passages and perhaps this one from Psalm 16. The Lord is the portion on our plates; He is the refreshment in our cups. Unless we "eat" and "drink" Him, we know nothing of things good.

C. S. Lews has a wonderful poem in which he compares eating material food with taking in the Lord as our food. In the former case, he notes, the food we eat, fully digested, becomes us. In the case of spiritual food, the food we eat - the delights and refreshments of knowing the Lord - does not become us; rather, we become it.

To take the Lord into the deep inner recesses of our souls, there to savor Him, to be sated with His presence and drunk with His Spirit (Eph. 5.18), this is what we're made for, what we've been redeemed to know. For this is eternal life, to know God and Jesus Christ so fully, truly, intimately, and transformingly that His presence in us makes us, day by day, something more than we've ever been before.

Are we feeding on the Lord? Does He quench every thirst of our souls? Sate every longing of our innermost beings? Build His character and presence out through us by His Spirit filling and transforming us?

Do we see our relationship with God in such intimate and transforming terms? Have you fed on the Lord Jesus lately?

Today at The Fellowship of Ailbe

ReVision - Finally! Unbelievers are beginning to recognize the power of belief - theirs!

I Will Be Your God - If you do not understand God's covenant, you're missing a central component of the life of faith. This book can fix that.

Mentoring - Pastors, we can receive a few applications for a mentoring relationship in the areas of spiritual life, preaching, or evangelism training at this time. Write me and let's talk about what you need.

T. M. Moore, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.