Every time I fly and I hear the phrase, “Please make sure your oxygen mask is secure before helping anyone else,” I wonder how it would feel to be a parent, desperate to put a mask on their child to the detriment of their own life. But I see the temptation exists for us everywhere: to give before we’ve received, to pour out before we’ve been poured into. And worse, it’s a part of Christian culture to do so. We laud service and eschew Sabbath. We exalt work and neglect rest. We praise doers and overlooker hearers. We try to feed others before we’ve been fed ourselves. We are in a crisis of care in many spheres of life today. No matter our vocation, it can be tempting to pour out before we allow ourselves to truly be cared for, poured into, and ministered to by the Word of God.
This was the climate into which the prophet Ezekiel was speaking. In today’s passage, the Lord appears to Ezekiel and, essentially, says, “Eat my words and then go speak them to others” (Ezekiel 2:8, my paraphrase). God’s people were in exile, going about their duties, beginning and ending each day exactly the same, the monotony unending. Ezekiel’s vision was intended to interrupt their trance of sameness, to give them a picture and a promise of something better.
But Ezekiel would have been unable to rightly or compellingly convince anyone of anything better if he had not first eaten, chewed on, swallowed, and subsisted on the Word of God. He had to be fed before he could feed others. He had to put on the oxygen mask of God’s message before he could put it on others.
In the same way, the world is asking us to fill spaces, to show up, be something, be everything, speak something, say anything, do something, do everything, but we often feel like walking air-pockets, void of anything of substance inside us. Have you been there? I know I have. The Word of God is food for us, just as it was for Ezekiel. And our food is to do the will of God, just as it was for Jesus (John 4:34). We are called to breathe in what He has given us in His Word, and then to go and speak it to everyone we know.
We are either feeding our faith or our fears…I can waist so much of my time feeding my fears with nonsense such as facebook or YouTube or just mindless entertainment on tv…don’t get me wrong not all of it is bad but if it leaves me thinking way to long and the results are fear then I’m not doing a very good job at feeding myself faith. I’d rather feed myself His words or even a good book about Him anything that would build my faith in Him than something that causes me worry or makes me ask, ‘WHAT IF.” Ezeakiel knew that the Israelites wouldn’t listen to him because he first listened to God tell him this…Ezeakeil went out full and equiped.
I want to pour out encouragement and awe of His mighty works! How does one keep a broken vessel full….by keeping it under the tap.
God’s word is truly living. It is astonishing, everyday if I will listen Jesus speaks truth to me through the living word. Seek first the kingdom of God.
I find myself in a time of waiting for the LORD to direct my path. I feel like I know parts of the plan but I haven’t heard, “Go.” The scripture and message today remind me to be steadfast in God’s Word–“chewing, swallowing, subsisting on God’s Word…feeding myself so I can feed others.”
Thank you Lore for this reminder and dear Sister’s for your thoughts as well.
Praying for pastors and leaders today! Fill them up with you lord.
“So I ate it and it was as sweet as honey in my mouth.” I love this! God’s Word IS as sweet as honey in my mouth! It feeds me over and over again-teaching, encouraging, admonishing…The Bread of Life ❤️
Lately I have felt like the air has been knocked out of me. God in His kindness to me reminds me that He loves me and His word is the sustenance needed for life. May I dwell here eating chewing breathing in the Word of God. So that His goodness is on my tongue and is all I can speak. Praise Jesus.
You cannot serve from an empty well. This has been something I have been dealing with in our volunteers at church recently. We are no good to ourselves or anyone else if we have not been able to be filled up so that the overflow is all God and pours on those we are serving.
So timely. Thank you God for your perfect timing and giving me exactly what I need.