One Christmas I was given a Jamie Oliver cookbook, it was called Jamie’s Ministry of Food and it went through all the basics from poaching eggs to cooking a decent Chilli con carne. I think my parents were dropping subtle hints that I needed to share more of the cooking, but it was a great gift and it basically taught me to cook. It freed me up to start adding my own meals to what we were eating and start experimenting with the flavours I loved and others that I didn't like as much. I essentially went from a consumer to contributor in cooking.
When did you first learn to cook?
Maybe you can remember your first cookbook or that moment you started uni and looked at the packet of pasta and the kettle and hoped for the best. However it happened learning to cook is a step we all take as we grow independent and more mature. It’s the same as we grow as Christians, we learn to take on more responsibility, rather than waiting to be fed we begin to feed ourselves when we need nourishing by reading the Bible, watching videos and listening to podcasts.
‘Take this book, then eat it.’
John experienced this in Revelation 10, he comes across an angel clothed in cloud with a rainbow above his head, as you do, and begins to write down the thunderous sermon the angel is preaching. Then God tells John to put down his pen and paper and go to angel and ask for the book that the angel has been holding all along. When John goes up and asks for it he receives a strange response. The Angel tells John to eat the book. To Eat it. Chew it. Digest it. John does just that and tucks into the feast set before him (check out Eugene Petersons' Eat This Book for more on this).
Eat this Blog
This is the step God calls us all to take, to go from being passive consumers of scripture like when we’re fed exclusively on our parents cooking to actively engaging with the living word of God, wrestling, asking questions, meditating on passages, bringing it into conversation just like when we first wrestle with the frying pan to avoid burning the onions when we’re learning to cook. It can seem a daunting prospect at first but just like with cooking, the more we do it the easier it becomes (unless you’re still a hopeless cook after three years!).
So practically what does this look like, all cooking analogies and angels aside? Here’s a few suggestions:
- Right now, as your reading this pick up a Bible, find a passage and ask God what he wants to say to you through it.
- Commit to scrolling through the Bible app rather than Facebook when you get a spare minute.
- Gather together with some friends at uni or arrange a Skype with friends who live far away to discuss your biggest questions that week about what you’ve read in the Bible or heard in a preach.
- Give enough time to meet God when you’re reading the Bible, carve out 30 minutes to an hour and focus on one chapter of the Bible. Read it, then reflect on it, pray to God about what he’s revealed in the reflection then just rest, don’t rush off. This is from the ancient idea of Lecto Divina which has been used for centuries to meet God when reading the Bible.
Begin eating the book that we’ve been given by God; the Bible. Chew it, absorb it and let it bring nutrition to your whole body so that you become what you eat. Give time to allow the words to wash over you, then as you speak, act and live you’ll become the very thing you’ve been eating.
