Eat the scroll of the title Words!
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Ezekiel 3
1. And he said to me, Son of man, eat what you receive; eat this scroll, and go and tell the house of Israel.
2. I will open my mouth, and he will feed me the scroll.
3. He said to me, “Son of man, take this scroll that I am giving you, put it in your stomach, and fill your intestines.” So I ate it, and it was sweet as honey in my mouth.
Revelation 3
10. And he said to me, Do not seal up the words of the prophecy of this book, for the time is near.
11. Let him who does unrighteousness continue to do unrighteousness, and let the unclean continue to be defiled;
12. Behold, I am coming soon, and my reward is with me, to give to each man according to what he has done.
13. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.
14. Blessed are those who wash their robes, that they may have authority to go to the tree of life and to enter the city through the gates.
15. Outside the city will be dogs, and sorcerers, and fornicators, and murderers, and idolaters, and everyone who loves and creates lies.
Content
Subject: Eat the Scroll of the Word!
Text: Ezekiel 3:1-3, Revelation 22:10-15,
Life is said to be a 'creature that lives three lives'. The first life is embodied in the mother's womb, and the second life takes place outside the womb. The supply of necessary nutrients also varies. In the womb, it is supplied through the umbilical cord, but after birth, it must be taken by mouth. First of all, breast milk. Then there are other foods. Some of these courses require training. Training to suckle and training to eat other foods. The training period in which you are fed other foods while breastfeeding is called the weaning period (離乳食期). Habits that are developed at this time have an effect on health. The same phenomenon exists in the life of faith that begins with being born again (John 3:3,5). Just as all life phenomena are accomplished through the mother who is the incarnation of love, the life of faith is also through the Bible, the word of life that contains the love of God.
1) Longing for the Word of God, which is the food of the soul. It is the attitude necessary to throw away the old life and start a new life (1 Peter 1:23-2:2). “Like newborn babies, long for pure and spiritual milk. so that by this you may grow toward salvation” (1 Peter 2:2). There is an old poet's saying, “He satisfies the longing soul and fills the hungry with good things” (Psalm 107:9). It is reminiscent of the appearance of a baby bird eating food that the mother bird asked for. According to scholars who study eating habits, a pleasant eating habit is the best way to digest the nutrients in the food you eat. Conversely, forced food is said to cause the greatest harm to the body as well as digestion.
2) It is about taking and eating (Ezekiel 3:1-3). The Word of God is the best nutritious food necessary for maintaining the health of the soul and for growth. Even if you don't eat the sacramental feast, it is of no use. It refers to the process of receiving God's Word deeply into the heart and digesting it. “Put this scroll I am giving you into your stomach and fill your intestines” (Ezekiel 3:3). The specific form of eating is reminiscent of seeing with the eyes (Rev 21:1), hearing with the ears (Rev 21:3), reciting with the mouth (Nehemiah 8:8), and writing it down in the heart (Deut 6:6). This kind of training comes to mind when we read and recite the Bible during the 10th Bible Reading. The words that stood in the eyes, the mouth, and the ears in the beginning have never stood still. I thank God for giving me a different feeling than before in my eyes, mouth, ears, and heart.
3) It is enough to digest. Undigested food harms health and life. If you repeat the repetition of vomiting after eating the Word, this is futile. It is reminiscent of a patient with spiritual indigestion. Gradually, the taste of God's word is reminiscent of the words of an old poet (Psalm 119:103). It reminds me of Psalm 1. They sang about a life of enjoying the word of God and meditating day and night. The result is that they will turn away from the counsel of the wicked, the way of sinners, and the arrogance of the place. In the end, like a tree planted by a stream, it leads to a life that bears fruit according to the season (Psalm 1:1-6). Today's New Testament text (Rev 22:10-15) is about the grace given to those who enter the holy city. "Purple. I am coming soon, and my reward is with me, to repay each one according to what he has done” (Revelation 22:12). Changing your life through the Word of God brings all the graces promised in the Bible. Eat the scroll of the Word! Amen.