As many years as a person may live, every now and then the Lord still allows us to experience new things!  And this was certainly a first for me.

A few weeks ago on this very blog I shared how the birds around our place, after cleaning out the birdfeeder, wait and watch for me to refill it. That very scenario rose to new heights at my last refilling.

While I was prepping the feeder for a new supply, I had a plastic, gallon-sized ice cream container filled with seed resting on the ground just a few feet away.  To my utter astonishment, a white-breasted nuthatch landed on the rim of the container and proceeded to pluck out a seed. 

And it wasn’t a snatch and dash scenario, as one might expect.  It took its sweet time, picked up a seed in its beak, and was completely content to perch there while I loomed over it.  Only when I stated, “Aren’t you a bold one,” did it decide to take flight.

It’s not unusual for birds to begin to swoop in towards the feeder while I’m there.  But the usual response, once they recognize I’m present, is to make a rapid and extreme adjustment in flight and divert to a nearby tree. 

Not this nuthatch.  It saw readily available food, and it was eager to eat it!  So eager that it boldly settled down on the feed container before I even had the opportunity to transfer it to the feeder, and began helping itself.  Meanwhile, I’m only steps away!

My immediate thought was, “How cool is that!”  It was followed almost immediately with, “If only we were as eager to eat up God’s word as that nuthatch is to eat seeds!”

The Lord uses this very metaphor in his Scriptures, often describing God’s word as a necessary and delicious “food” to devour.  It’s necessary because it feeds the faith in our souls; it’s delicious because it strengthens our relationship with our Lord, filling us with joy and peace.

As Moses informed the Israelites: “… man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord.” (Deuteronomy 8:3).  You’ll undoubtedly remember that Jesus quoted these very words when Satan tempted him to create physical food while Jesus was fasting in the desert.

The words of God are not only necessary for the soul, but delicious and delightful.  (Yes, even when they point out our sin, because they also point out our Savior from sin!)  The psalmist states, “How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth!” (Psalm 119:103).  And the prophet agrees! “When your words came, I ate them; they were my joy and my heart’s delight, for I bear your name, Lord God Almighty.” (Jeremiah 15:16). 

The concept of feeding our souls through Scripture carries over into the New Testament as well.  Including from the Savior himself, who said, “ Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you.” (John 6:27).

Or, in the words of Peter, “Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, now that you have tasted that the Lord is good.” (1 Peter 2:2-3).

I wonder if we don’t sometimes regard our time in God’s word as “snacking.”  We nibble on it now and then when it appeals to us.

Or perhaps we think of it more as an obligation.  “We have to eat something,” so we try to arrange for a meal now and then on a Sunday morning … if there isn’t something that sounds more “appetizing” that day.

But those are NOT the pictures God gives us in the Bible!

Rather, the word of God shows us that the words of God are life sustaining and strengthening – spiritually speaking.  They are enduring.  They are also “sweet,” therefore they bring joy and delight to our hearts.

So God’s people want to devour God’s words eagerly, often, and boldly (resolutely).  Like a certain nuthatch in my front yard does with safflower seed.