Life Hack #27: Get into the crevices

Life Hack #27:

Eat honey, dear child—it’s good for you—and delicacies that melt in your mouth. Likewise knowledge, and wisdom for your soul—get that and your future’s secured, your hope is on solid rock. (Proverbs 24:13-14)

In scripture, honey is used to describe all that is sweet and pleasing - both in the natural and spiritual sense. When scripture declares we should eat honey, it is saying we should pursue those things which will bring delight and satisfaction to our spiritual man. We are to live life to the fullest - enjoying all God has prepared for us. There are definitely some things which are better to pursue than others - especially as it applies to being "built up", encouraged, or finding peace. These are the things God wants us to become "acquainted" with in our daily "intake". 

In the Old Testament region of Palestine was not harvested from bee farms, but rather had to be dug out of crevices in the rocks and the hollow of trees. Maybe God is giving us a word picture of having to "mine" the bountiful goodness he has prepared for us. It requires some effort on our part, but it is well worth the investment! In Palestine, the bees were abundant - no hive was ever abandoned - it was always active and a place of provision. The same is true of God's grace, love, and goodness toward us - it is always active and a place of provision. In case you didn't know this, the bees found in the Syrian deserts and hill country are some of the hardiest bees and are often "imported" by other beekeepers around the world to assist in developing a thriving hive population among their bees. God might just be showing us of the "hardiness" of what God provides to us - it is substantial and able to multiply.

The instruction is to "eat" - consume, take in, make it nourishment. We can have all kinds of food at our disposal, but until we take it into our bodies, it has little potential of assisting us. The intention of food is to bring nourishment. To simply look at it, and simply consider it as nicely colored or presented, is to shun the very purpose of the food. We have to exercise a little effort to get the food into our bodies, don't we? It just doesn't "feed us" on its own. We need to take the fork to our mouths in order to ingest it. The same is true of all God has for us in his Word and those times of quiet repose before him. It takes some effort, but once we take the first step, he promises the intake of all he provides will be like delicacies in our mouths.

Knowledge and wisdom for our soul is like the "honey" of the desert - it is pleasant, nourishing, and packed with all we need to help us along a long journey. Honey is a good source of energy. Lack energy in your life? Take in a little more of the Word, let it sink in and see if you don't feel energized with the refreshing intake. Even when the Word corrects something which we may not have been willing to deal with, it brings refreshment. A thunderstorm with torrential rainfalls will purge the earth of the top layers of dirt, uncovering the hidden and bringing it new life. God's words may correct - uncovering a little of the dirt but exposing the newness underneath just burgeoning to grow forth. The word applied will bring newness of growth. We can have all kinds of "good stuff" at our disposal, but until we avail ourselves of the good stuff hidden in the crevices and hollows, we will never really experience all God has for us! Just sayin!

Words like no other words

We sometimes struggle with what it takes to live a godly life, but Peter tells us that everything we need is provided to us IN CHRIST JESUS - not some of the things, not most of the things, but everything we need. Our part in the relationship is to grow in intimate relationship with him – depth and awareness come from him, consistency is what is required from us. We are called to receive his greatness and power – people who understand their calling will also understand the significance of what they have received IN Christ. We are given each of his promises and we can count on these promises because of his love for us. This type of growth comes as we apply the Word to our lives – because it has the effect of producing a life of moral excellence. If we will spend some time faithfully exploring the depths of it, it will produce the right character - but only if we are willing to be changed by it.

So don't lose a minute in building on what you've been given, complementing your basic faith with good character, spiritual understanding, alert discipline, passionate patience, reverent wonder, warm friendliness, and generous love, each dimension fitting into and developing the others. With these qualities active and growing in your lives, no grass will grow under your feet, no day will pass without its reward as you mature in your experience of our Master Jesus. Without these qualities you can't see what's right before you, oblivious that your old sinful life has been wiped off the books. 

(2 Peter 2:5-9)

Through the Word, we will come to know God better. We cannot read for too long without coming across the evidence of his love for those in intimate and growing relationship with him. We will come face-to-face with his compassion toward sinners, his repeated interventions to keep them safe, and his own hunger to be known by his children. We will come to a place of mature self-control when we allow the Word to begin to impact our choices and actions. The Word of God has a way of dissecting the various areas of our lives where we need to focus attention. We will periodically find ourselves saying, “Ouch, I really needed that!” There are indeed habits in each of our lives that need to be broken, attitudes that need adjusting, and worries that need to be finally resolved. This happens in the quiet moments of reflection on the Word of God.

We will come to a place of learned endurance the more we get into the Word and it has a chance to get into us. In other words, when the Word of God gets into us, it helps us “run strong”. We find that we walk with a sense of assurance and don’t give up so easily on what seems impossible, is difficult to face, or is frightfully annoying. We will come to a place of godliness in our daily walk - that place where our attitude is transitioned from one of independent self-assurance into one of dependent Christ-assurance. The ultimate outcome of spending time with Jesus in the Word is that we will be deeply affected by it! It changes how we “do business” in our daily walk. It is not rocket science – get into the Word, let it get into you, and things will change. No one who allows the Word of God a chance to do what it has the power to do will walk away unaffected by it! Just sayin!