Your next meal

Maurice Sendak, author of Where the Wild Things Are, describes one fan who paid him the ultimate compliment.

Don’t you just love that sequence? He saw it. He loved it. He ate it.

This is actually a biblical concept. Both the Old Testament prophet, Ezekiel, and the disciple, John, were instructed to “eat” a scroll. What on earth does that mean?

Recently I paid a visit to a dear friend who is struggling mightily with physical ailments and who is also the parent of two special needs adult children. From her wheelchair, Diane (pseudonym) shared a verse that I suspect she has eaten.

“Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done.” (Philippians 4:6)

Her body was battling the vestiges of a stroke, yet Diane claimed this verse as God’s daily sustenance. And as she recited it, one of her sons, chimed in from an adjacent room. Clearly this family had digested this verse.

May this promise from Scripture encourage us as well. For the cross gave way to Easter joy, the tomb is empty and the stone rolled away. Jesus’s resurrection means that our deepest hunger can be satisfied. He can trade our worry for peace.

So why not munch on a scroll or two this morning? This word from God is not a side dish; it is your main meal and the very stuff that makes Wild Things dance.