LRW continued at a record pace.  God had so much to teach me!  I meant it with all my heart when I begged Him to give me a word straight to my heart from His.  God gave me a lot to think about before we got to the defining moment of my request.

James 1:22 says exactly what our LRW speaker gave us tonight.  We treat the Word of God like a buffet – we pick and choose what we want, and leave the rest behind.   I have a process that must be followed when I eat at a buffet.  My family laughs at me.  I get my salad first.  I fix it just right, and then sit down to enjoy it.  I don’t load up on the real food until after the salad portion.  Besides, I don’t like my food touching each other!  I eat one thing at a time.

Once the salad is gone, I head back for the good stuff.  We have a lot of seafood buffets.  I get the shrimp, hushpuppies, au gratin, and maybe some fish.  I head for the table to enjoy.  I don’t like oysters and fish with bones.  I don’t bother with the vegetables – after all, it takes away from the good stuff!  I leave all that stuff at the buffet for someone else.  I simply take what I enjoy and head for the table.

I do love vegetables.  Not only are they good for you, they are a good way to get your vitamins and a great way to fill up without all the extra calories.  The point is, I’m paying for good, fried seafood – not a bunch of filling vegetables!  I don’t want to waste my time on vegetables – no matter how good they are for me.  I want to get my money’s worth!  I’m there for the good stuff!  The stuff that leaves me full and satisfied! 

I blush at the thought of the times I’ve treated God’s word that way.  I’ve read a passage, liked it, and learned it.  There are other times in my life where I’ve read a passage, got a bit stung by it, and chose to just leave it for another time.  Instead of growing from God’s words to me and allowing them to nurture my spirit at that moment, I would leave it behind and just cling to the good stuff – the stuff I knew I could enjoy. Who wants to meditate on bad things?  Who wants to soul search for errors of their ways?  At times when I’ve treated the Bible like a buffet, I’ve just camped out in the dessert section, and left the other stuff behind.   Not anymore!

The Bible was meant to be devoured as a whole.  All the words stand as one – not as individual ones!  From beginning to end, the good and the bad go together.  It takes a real desire to stop treating the Bible like the chow line at Luby’s.  In order to take on all the characteristics God has for me, I have to take His Word as a whole and live it fresh every day.

NMgirls:  The new diet gurus tell us that in order to be healthy, we have to stay out of buffet lines.  And so is our instruction for Godliness.  We have to stay away from the buffet line!  We need to discipline ourselves.  We have to learn to apply the healthy knowledge of Proverbs as well as the soul quenching verses of Psalms.  We have to know Jesus through the description of His sacrifice for us in order to be Christ-like to others.  What do you want today?