Starving in our abundance of God's Word

By Bob Burckle, Op-ed contributor Tuesday, August 22, 2023

A few years ago, when I was at death’s door in the hospital with COVID-19, I went about three days without eating. At this point, my body had stopped expecting food, and I really didn’t feel hungry. The nurses had to strongly encourage me to eat something, but after one bite, I’d be done. I had no appetite, no sense of hunger at all.

After this time, it occurred to me how often we, as followers of Christ, can become like that spiritually. When we aren’t regularly consuming God’s Word, we stop having a hunger for it. We can be starving for God’s Word but may not even realize it as we’ve gotten out of the habit of reading Scripture regularly.

Fewer people than ever, including Christians, are reading the Bible on a daily basis. According to the American Bible Society, the number of American adult Bible users has significantly decreased recently, coming down from 50% of Americans in 2020 to 39% present-day, in 2023. 

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How many Christians do you know who have multiple Bibles on their shelves at home, yet have never opened any of them? Oftentimes, we might have multiple Bibles — all the spiritual sustenance we need — at our disposal, but we aren’t taking advantage of them. That’s like being hungry with a refrigerator full of food and not eating anything from it. 

What do we really need?

Another issue for those who don’t consume food regularly is the need to be gradually re-introduced to solid foods. Similarly, as believers, we have become so weakened that we are only able to consume the “milk,” when we really need the meat of God’s Word. “For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the basic principles of the oracles of God. You need milk, not solid food, for everyone who lives on milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness since he is a child. But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil” (Hebrews 5:12-14).

Many people have also become consumers of junk food rather than healthy food, so they feel full but aren’t nutritionally satisfied. We are eating masked toxic chemicals, which taste good but do not fulfill our body’s nutritional needs. 

In the same way, Christians are falling into this trap when it comes to seeking spiritual nourishment outside of the Bible and theologically sound teachings. “A fool takes no pleasure in understanding, but only in expressing his opinion” (Proverbs 18:2). We want to hear things that are pleasing to our ears, rather than what we need to hear and pay attention to. “The way of a fool is right in his own eyes, but a wise man listens to advice” (Proverbs 12:15). 

We have to go back to the original word — God's Word — rather than relying too much on popular, culturally and socially acceptable interpretations of it. By consuming these resources from wolves in sheep's clothing, we find ourselves facing spiritual diseases, whose symptoms can include suicide, depression, anxiety, divorce, and divisiveness — everything that’s the opposite of love, peace, joy, and hope. 

We should not be surprised when this results from spiritual malnourishment or starvation. Only God can provide what we truly need — “the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law” (Galatians 5:22-23). 

The Bible, we want everyone to get it  

At EEM (Eastern Europe Mission), we’re committed to providing the written Word of God to anyone in Eastern Europe who wishes to have a copy in their language free of charge. Our goal is Scripture engagement — we want everyone to “get it,” not just in their hands but in their hearts and minds as well. People are forever being changed by the life-giving good news that is taking hold of hearts and transforming lives.

Through our work with EEM, I have seen countless people without Bibles recognizing their need for God’s Word. When they finally receive one, they can’t get enough of it, devouring and valuing it like a truly hungry person devours food in front of them. These people recognize the truth and satisfaction that comes from The Word, and they value it that much more because of it. 

Just as the body needs sustainable and nutritional nourishment from food and water, so does our soul need fulfilling and everlasting encouragement. This cannot come from “junk food” or even other people alone but from the living, breathing, infallible Word of God. Only He has the power to sustain us the way we all desire, and the first step in recognizing this is to open a Bible today, tomorrow, and every day that follows.