“Man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord.”—Deuteronomy 8:3
This past Wednesday night we hosted a “hands-only” CPR class sponsored by the Clackamas fire district. As a part of the training we learned that when someone goes into cardiac arrest, for every minute that they go without breathing, without their heart pumping blood to their brain and other vital organs, their chance of surviving the cardiac arrest decreases by 10%. But, really, no one has to tell us how vital oxygen and blood flow are to life.
Life must be sustained, not only with oxygen and blood flow, but with bread and water; with the nourishment of proper food and fluids. Without them life slowly weakens, and will eventually give way. As a rule of thumb a person can go for about 3 weeks without food, but only three days without water. “Bread” is vital to life.
Our text makes another, more important point. There is more to “living” than being physically alive. True life, truly living, is life in relationship with God; or what we call, eternal life, spiritual life, life given by the Spirit of God by which we are alive in relationship with God. Bread and water, blood flow and oxygen are of no help in sustaining this life. This life requires something altogether different for its strength and vitality. It needs the Word of God.
The Word of God is the bread of life, the living water, that sustains and strengthens our spiritual life. The Word of God feeds that life, it nourishes that life.
This nourishment, this strength and sustenance comes, in part, from knowing the Word, from being knowledgeable about the truth that it contains, but only in part. As critical as it is to know the word, it is just as critical, if not more critical, to walk in the Word, to live according to its truth. You can hear the Word and have a knowledge of its truth, but if you don’t heed the Word it avails you nothing in terms of strength and vitality in life in relationship with God. It is not enough to know the Word—we must also walk in the Word.
For this we must be empowered by the Holy Spirit. It is the Holy Spirit of God who gives us understanding of God’s Word and strengthens us to walk in its truths. But God has given us the Holy Spirit. The Spirit lives within each and every child of God. So we have all that we need. It is simply, now, a matter of acknowledging our need for the Spirit to strengthen us and seeking it by prayer; yielding to the Spirit, walking in step with the Spirit as He leads us in the way of righteousness, the way of the Word, the path lit by the lamp of God’s Word. In the final analysis, it is this walking in the way of the Word that is true spiritual vitality. The Word of God is the way of life, and all who walk in it live.
In the simple act of breathing, in the rhythmic pulsating of our hearts, in the daily routine of eating and drinking God has given us ready reminders of an even more vital exercise—the exercise of taking in the Word of God and living out the Word of God by the power of the Spirit. By His favor, may we heed the reminder.
“The Word of God is the Way of life and all who walk in it live.”
On the journey with you,
Pastor Guy