Deep Thoughts and the Bread of Life

This morning I am reflecting on a couple of quotes from A.W. Tozer's book, "The Knowledge of the Holy".

"What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us."

"For this reason the gravest question before the Church is always God Himself, and the most portentous fact about any man is not what he at a given time may say or do, but what he in his deep heart conceives God to be like. We tend by a secret law of the soul to move toward our mental image of God. This is true not only of the individual Christian, but of the company of Christians that composes the Church. Always the most revealing thing about the Church is her idea of God, just as her most significant message is what she says about Him or leaves unsaid, for her silence is often more eloquent than her speech. She can never escape the self-disclosure of her witness concerning God."

"Were we able to extract from any man a complete answer to the question, "What comes into your mind when you think about God?" we might predict with certainty the spiritual future of that man. Were we able to know exactly what our most influential religious leaders think of God today, we might be able with some precision to foretell where the Church will stand tomorrow."

"Without doubt, the mightiest thought the mind can entertain is the thought of God, and the weightiest word in any language is its word for God. Thought and speech are God's gifts to creatures made in His image; these are intimately associated with Him and impossible apart from Him. It is highly significant that the first word was the Word: "And the Word was with God, and the Word was God." We may speak because God spoke. In Him word and idea are indivisible.

"That our idea of God correspond as nearly as possible to the true being of God is of immense importance to us. Compared with our actual thoughts about Him, our creedal statements are of little consequence."

"The heaviest obligation lying upon the Christian Church today is to purify and elevate her concept of God until it is once more worthy of Him - and of her. In all her prayers and labors this should have first place. We do the greatest service to the next generation of Christians by passing on to them undimmed and undiminished that noble concept of God which we received from our Hebrew and Christian fathers of generations past. This will prove of greater value to them than anything that art or science can devise."

This introduction to the idea of thinking about God, and more importantly, thinking correctly about God, is so important.  I believe that one of our greatest losses in our busy and fast-paced world is that we have lost the ability to think deeply!  We are quick to take in sound bites, to let someone else tell us what we should think, but do we really spend time thinking through the deep things of life, God being the deepest and most important?  Is our worship and praise of God served up for us in energetic songs and music, or do we really think those words we are singing?

Last night a couple of good friends and I were talking about a recent time of communion where the song "Nothing but the Blood of Jesus" was the accompaniment. We were discussing the deep thoughts concerning the Blood of Jesus, and how this type of deep thinking is rare in our church experience these days. I was reminded of Psalm 42:1-2, 7 NIV:  "As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, my God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When can I go and meet with God?"  "Deep calls to deep in the roar of your waterfalls; all your waves and breakers have swept over me."

I believe that within each of us is a longing to know God, to be known by God, and to experience God.  There is a deep place in our soul where our hunger can only be sated by an encounter with Him!  The way to draw near to Him is in conversation and listening, as it is in every relationship.

What I think might surprise many of us, is that God desires this type of deep relationship with each of us!  This is not only available to the "great ones of God" or our pastors, but is meant to be the daily bread of each of our lives.  When God caused manna to appear to feed the Israelites in the desert, it was food for every person, and they all went out and collected it. Here is the introduction to manna found in the book Exodus 16:15-16 NIV:

[15] "When the Israelites saw it, they said to each other, “What is it?” For they did not know what it was. Moses said to them, “It is the bread the Lord has given you to eat. [16] This is what the Lord has commanded: 'Everyone is to gather as much as they need. Take an omer for each person you have in your tent.' ”

Notice, this was not the job of the leaders, the heads of the household, or any designee, it was commanded that everyone was to gather. They were to gather an omer for each person, that is about 3 pounds.  In other words this was not something they were to nibble on, but was real nourishment, and much of it.

I believe in the same way the Lord wants to nourish our souls daily with more than just a nibble, or passing thought.  He desires that we fill ourselves, that  we think deeply and experience Him regularly throughout our days, not just on Sunday. If I imagine that I had 3 pounds of bread to eat that I had to consume in one day, I would likely eat it not just at meal-times, but also snack on it throughout the day. For the Israelite, this manna and the quail that covered their camp at night was their source of food for the remainder of the 40 years - it was this nourishment that gave them life.

Jesus told us that He Himself is the Bread of Life (John 6:35), and I believe this is the way He desires to interact with us in our lives.  He desires that we feast on Him, allow Him to fill that deep place in our soul, through conversation, deep experiences, hearing Him speak the words of Life. He doesn't want us subsisting on crumbs, or week-old bread, but on the fresh bread of daily interaction and relationship!

Let us embrace this invitation to come to the table and eat!  Let us all encounter God personally, everyone of us!  Let us nourish our souls, let us think deep thoughts, and have deep and lasting conversations with the Lord. He desires that each of us might eat daily and fill ourselves with this rich bread!

Amen!