When did you last enjoy a feast? Maybe it was at Thanksgiving or Christmas, or on a special cruise.
Perhaps it was at a wedding.
But do you know that you can feast daily on God’s Word?
This feast will fill you with peace, joy, and love that lasts longer than the pleasure of eating steak, lobster, cheesecake, or any other decadent food.
A spiritual feast on God’s Word is best enjoyed in the company of others, just like a literal feast is best savored with friends and family.
We can learn techniques to feast together on God’s Word for greater spiritual nourishment and enjoyment.
How to Feast on God’s Word
Maybe you think a daily spiritual feast on God’s Word is not possible.
Perhaps you feel too busy, tired, distracted, and hurried to enjoy it alone, much less with others.
But a daily spiritual feast on God’s Word doesn’t require as much time or energy as you may think.
In fact, if you make time to feast on biblical truths with your family, the work is spread out among all members.
God’s Word is both the milk and meat in our daily spiritual feast, feeding our spiritual hunger and resulting in an overflow of life that impacts every aspect of our lives (Heb 5:11-14). It’s the daily bread that sustains us and satisfies our cravings (Jn 6:35).
We can spiritually feast on God’s Word by taking several steps to savor it deeply. Yes, we can do this on our own, but it’s even better when we take these steps with others.
The spiritual feasting on God’s Word that we do in community promotes harmony between believers and deepens our faith in God.
God’s Word is both the milk and meat in our daily spiritual feast.
Our Need to Feast on God’s Word
Like many of us, COVID-19 upended my way of living.
There were still 24 hours in a day, but unprecedented demands meant those hours had to be used differently.
The greatest change came in the realm of relationships.
My family of three, once divided by a four-hour journey across the Atlantic, was now struggling to live well together in a studio apartment in New York.
God, who was faithfully watching over us, saw the great need that had surfaced on account of our newfound togetherness.
Although we enjoyed each other’s presence and saw God’s kindness in bringing us together, we struggled to maintain the sweet unity that pleases God (Ps 133:1).
What was the problem? Communication.
There was a way that seemed right to us, but in the end, it led to death (Prv 14:12).
This death wasn’t a physical one, but a tearing away from the wholeness God had purposed for us.
Our slow listening, sharp and quick words, and anger were ruining the feast of harmony God had prepared for us.
Our slow listening, sharp and quick words, and anger were ruining the feast of harmony God had prepared for us.God provided the right word at the right time to align my family with His will: “My dearly loved brothers, understand this: Everyone must be quick to hear, slow to speak, and slow to anger (Jas 1:19, HCSB).”
By His grace, we perceived the gift of this scripture and wrote it prominently on the whiteboard in the dining room.
For the next two months, during family devotions on Sunday, we spiritually feasted on this verse by considering how we could apply it to our daily lives.
The Bible tells us, “All the days of the oppressed are miserable, but a cheerful heart has a continual feast” (Prv 15:15, HCSB).
We cultivate happiness, harmony, and cheer in our relationships when we study God’s Word together.
God commanded feasting for the Israelites: “You are to feast there in the presence of the Lord your God and rejoice with your family (Dt 14:26b, HCSB).”
He wants us to feast not only in his presence but rejoice with our family members.
Spiritual feasting is a time not only of joyful celebration but of unity in God’s presence.
We cultivate happiness, harmony, and cheer in our relationships when we study God’s Word together.
Preparing Our Hearts to Feast on God’s Word
God provided the right word at the right time in my family, but for us to benefit we had to see our own unique need for it.
For my part, it was so easy to see how this word could make life better if only my loved ones simply obeyed!
But God wanted to feed me too.
A series of familial collisions, of which I was the center, provided the perfect context for Him to oppose my self-righteousness.
Amid the sparks, His light shone so brightly on my heart that I saw just how much I needed the word He had provided.
I was slow to hear, quick to speak, and quick to anger—the opposite of James 1:19.
I needed help; the help only God can provide.
This was the prerequisite step to spiritual feasting: recognizing my own need and His sufficiency.
Now, I was ready to sit attentively before the table He had prepared.
The first step to feasting on God’s Word is recognizing our need and His sufficiency.
Four Parts of Spiritual Feasting
Spiritual feasting begins with close listening to what God is saying. These four tips can help you feast on God’s Word with your family:
1 – Read the Scripture aloud.
He then took the covenant scroll and read it aloud to the people. They responded, “We will do and obey everything that the Lord has commanded.” – Exodus 24:7 HCSB
We read to hear the words the Author has chosen. We read to make room for the Author’s voice. This practice sensitizes us to the reality that when we come to Scripture, we are coming to hear the voice of the all-wise God Himself.
2 – Write Scripture.
Write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates. – Deuteronomy 6:9 HCSB
This practice makes our listening more intentional, as we note what He says letter by letter, word by word, and punctuation mark by punctuation mark. It challenges our desire to rush the process and come to a result, i.e. something to know or do.
3 – Reread the Scripture.
It is to remain with him, and he is to read from it all the days of his life, so that he may learn to fear the Lord his God, to observe all the words of this instruction, and to do these statutes. – Deuteronomy 17:19 HCSB
We put ourselves in place to hear what God is saying to us. The commitment to reading again reinforces our posture to receive from Him. It is a practical way to slay the voice of pride that would have us assume sufficient understanding because of our familiarity with the passage.
4 – Seek application.
Apply yourself to discipline and listen to words of knowledge. – Proverbs 23:12 HCSB
We know that even as God’s Word was sent to the saints before us, it is also for our lives today. We can ask God to show us how His Word is to be applied in the context of our day-to-day lives. We can explicitly invite Him to show us where His Word is begging to be obeyed in our lives.
Start Feasting With Your Family Today!
Living by Design Ministries’ newest free Bible study is a great place to begin feasting on God’s Word with your family.
The plot of the biblical story is communicated in Genesis 1:26a, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness.”
Because of the Bible, we know that God created the world on purpose for a purpose. We also know that humankind rebelled against God and the fallen creation no longer reflects God’s glory as intended.
In the Imago Dei study, we will explore the ways God is actively redeeming His creation and re-establishing His divine rule in the hearts of humankind.
This brief study of the biblical view of human nature seeks to answer the following questions:
Day 1: Who is God?
Day 2: Why did God create humankind?
Day 3: What went wrong with God’s creation?
Day 4: How bad is the problem of sin, really?
Day 5: What did God do in order to redeem humankind?
The purpose of the study is to help you better understand who God is and who He has made you to be. All you need to complete this free online Bible study is 15-minutes per day and an e-mail address.
You will receive a welcome e-mail within fifteen minutes of registering and the first devotional will arrive in your inbox tomorrow morning.
A Deeper Invitation to Feast on God’s Word
When we show up to listen, God is faithful to speak in ways He knows we can understand.
In listening closely, we are invited to a deeper experience of God’s provision through the call to obedience.
The greatest “amen” to God’s commands comes by way of walking out the truth of His Word.
Our listening makes us accountable to God and each other in our daily living.
When we are eager to do good works, God reveals His plans and purposes for us.
Here are some simple ways to get more out of your spiritual feast on God’s Word with your family:
- Study testimonies of others to know what obedience looks like in daily living. You can comb through the witness of Old Testament saints and the perfect witness of Jesus. Study how they obeyed and the fruits of their obedience.
- Look for biblically-based guidance in the areas of listening, speaking, and forgiveness. You can distill the most relevant points and share them during family devotions. For example, consider the story of Joseph in the Old Testament. He grew through his trials and offered forgiveness in the end (Gn 37-50).
- Set up an accountability framework for living the truth. You can make a firm commitment to try a particular strategy together for a specific length of time before checking in. Check-ins can involve celebrating successes, tackling challenges together, and covering each other in prayer over expressed points of weakness.
As you can see, spiritual feasting involves many parts.
It’s not simply sipping on God’s Word for a few minutes.
It involves deep thought, study, discussion, application, prayer, and accountability.
However, these steps can be played out in a daily rhythm that will bless your family and satisfy their spiritual needs on a much deeper level.
Whatever your family needs today, I hope you will perceive and accept God’s invitation to spiritually feast in your day-to-day lives.
He is constantly providing sustenance through the Holy Spirit and will feed you as you feast on his Word with intentional steps.
–Carolyn Sinclair McCalla
Carolyn Sinclair McCalla is dedicated to equipping women and children to seek, live and be transformed— spirit, soul, and body—by the truth of God’s Word. She cheerfully applies her God-given gifts of teaching, through writing and speaking, in order to serve the women and children entrusted to her. She is the Founder and President of EarthBasic, which serves the Be-Held Woman.
