Daily Bread
A few weeks ago I was getting my car's tires rotated. I was seated in a waiting room without control of the remote - so I had the 'pleasure' of watching a talk show called 'The Talk'. If you're not familiar - it's definitely targeted more towards a female audience. They had a guest on, a man, who wrote a book entitled, "Man Enough" in which he questioned the view of the traditional definition of a man and its effect on society and relationships.
It's his response to what has been labeled 'toxic masculinity' in our society. He even offered an apology to women on behalf of all men who have exhibited these characteristics. As a captive audience, I sat and watched - and while I agreed with a number of his points - I disagreed with others. I'm not trying to tear down this guy - he's doing something about the problems he sees. But I don't believe the majority of the problems in this world come from 'toxic masculinity' - from men who are somehow 'too manly'. But I do believe that there are a large number of men who have rejected God's design for their lives.
The solution to most of these issues is not for men to reject 'traditional masculinity', or to become 'more feminine' but for men to follow God's design for men and to step up and become the husbands, fathers, and leaders our families need. Our problem isn't necessarily 'manly men' - action heroes like Schwarzenegger, Stallone or Chuck Norris - but perhaps it's manliness without the restraint of God's design. By the way - how many pushups can Chuck Norris do? All of them.
A growing number of men don't ever attend a Church service. And if they don't know God - how would any man understand his God given role? According to the Bible - Men are supposed to be the spiritual head of their households. Men are to be spiritual leaders, not tyrants or dictators.
And I want to acknowledge here - just the sheer number of a man's children doesn't make him an expert. That only comes with years of experience - something that many of you have more of than me - so I want to approach this with a bit of humility.
Yeah, I know, on Mother's Day we praise Moms and on Father's Day we challenge men. But I believe that men need to be challenged today. Our God given role is vital to the success of our families and our churches. Being a Godly man, a godly father, a spiritual leader is not an easy task. Men - Fathers - if we are going to have any success in leading or showing our relevance at this time in history - we first need to acknowledge our...
I. Dependence on God's Word
Men don't usually like to show any kind of weakness - shocker, I know - but depending on God's Word is not about weakness. It's about being strong enough to deny yourself and submit to God's will. Depending on God's Word is all about strength - strength of conviction, strength of faith, strength of character, strength of humility before your Creator. In order for men to be the men they were created to be - God's Word must be the foundation on which they build their lives.
And how do we make God's Word the foundation, something at the very core of who you are? There are instances in scripture where people were commanded to...
A. Eat God's Word
I'm guessing that some of you might be participating in a cookout today. Men and meat cooked over an open fire seem to go pretty well together. And I'm guessing some might have burgers, or steaks or ribs - but you're probably not preparing to eat God's word.
Back in the Old Testament, the prophet Jeremiah wrote that when he received God's Words - he ate them. In the New Testament, the Apostle John, in a vision in the book of Revelation, was commanded to eat a scroll with God's Words. This goes beyond just an analogy - it's the idea of consuming God's Words, devouring them as sustenance - 'you are what you eat'...
I want us to look at the experience of Ezekiel who was called to be a prophet and given visions from God. Let's look at what God told him in Ezekiel 2:8-10, 3:1-3 (NIV)...
"But you, son of man, listen to what I say to you. Do not rebel like that rebellious house; open your mouth and eat what I give you." (9) Then I looked, and I saw a hand stretched out to me. In it was a scroll, (10) which he unrolled before me. On both sides of it were written words of lament and mourning and woe.
And he said to me, "Son of man, eat what is before you, eat this scroll; then go and speak to the house of Israel." (2) So I opened my mouth, and he gave me the scroll to eat. (3) Then he said to me, "Son of man, eat this scroll I am giving you and fill your stomach with it." So I ate it, and it tasted as sweet as honey in my mouth.
So in this vision, God literally wanted Ezekiel to eat His Words - to devour them, to make them a part of himself in order to boldly and unflinchingly lead God's people who had rebelled against Him. He was called to stand against his own people in their sin. Throughout scripture the idea of devouring God's Word in order to incorporate it into ones self is clear. God wanted His prophets, His servants, His people to understand how vital His Word was to their survival.
So Ezekiel had to respond - he had to choose to literally eat a scroll. And I want to look at the...
B. Results of obedience
We see body builders with huge muscles and we know they had to put in the work to get those results. Ezekiel had to 'put in the work' and it started with consuming God's Word. And then he had to let those Words do their work in his life in order for him to be strong enough, man enough to answer the call. And here's the specifics of the call in Ezekiel 3:4-9 (NIV)...
He then said to me: "Son of man, go now to the house of Israel and speak my words to them. (5) You are not being sent to a people of obscure speech and difficult language, but to the house of Israel - (6) not to many peoples of obscure speech and difficult language, whose words you cannot understand. Surely if I had sent you to them, they would have listened to you.
(7) But the house of Israel is not willing to listen to you because they are not willing to listen to me, for the whole house of Israel is hardened and obstinate. (8) But I will make you as unyielding and hardened as they are. (9) I will make your forehead like the hardest stone, harder than flint. Do not be afraid of them or terrified by them, though they are a rebellious house."
Ezekiel was called to confront the Jewish people, his own people after they had rejected their covenant with God. And he had to be strong for the task because he would face ridicule, he would lose his friends, he'd lose his position, his job, he lost his home - he was taken into captivity in Babylon. He even had to lose his wife for his calling and had to go right back to correcting the people without even having a time to mourn his loss. How did he stand faithful to the end? Where did he get that kind of strength?
He depended on God's Word, he devoured God's Word and he obeyed God's Word fully. And this idea of consuming God's Word...
II. It applies to us, too
In order for each of us to become that strong for God's calling in our lives, we need to practice 'feasting' on God's Word. We all need to. Even Jesus when He was tempted in the wilderness to give into His hunger for food, He relied on God's Word as recorded in Matthew 4:3-4 (NIV)...
The tempter came to him and said, "If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread." (4) Jesus answered, "It is written: 'Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.'"
Anyone else smelling something good yet...? It's a little olfactory illustration - a sensory reminder of this passage and eating. Those watching at home are missing the aroma and not getting the full effect. And it's definitely making me hungry!
As we smell this bread baking- do we place such a high priority on God's Word as we do filling our stomachs with food? Food is not a bad thing - but are we as dependent on God's Word as we are on food to sustain us? Men - our families probably see us eat all the time. We eat at meal times, family functions, snack time, parties, sitting on the couch - they may even see us eating too much of the time. But do they ever see us 'devouring' God's Word? Do they ever see us simply reading God's Word?
And it's at this point that I usually push the website - biblegateway.com - Because it's the method I use for my Bible reading plan. I want to encourage you again to either sign up for a daily Bible reading program, or download a print copy of a reading program, or you can even listen to a daily Bible reading on that site - maybe even do it the old fashioned way and pull out an actual Bible and sit down and read.
If we became a of congregation of people who hungered for God's Word, if we made 'devouring' God's Word as high a priority in our lives as eating food - imagine how our lives and our families would change. Imagine how our influence would change. We spend a ton of time earning money to buy, time looking for, time preparing and eating food. What time do we give in seeking out and devouring God's Word?
And as we're thinking of this command to show our dependence on God by 'eating' His Word, it's key to remember...
A. Jesus is God's Word
And just as food isn't optional in this life - Jesus isn't optional for the next. We are to depend on God's Word - and Jesus is God's Word! We are called to accept Him completely, even when it's difficult, or uncomfortable or unpopular. Jesus is God in the flesh, THE way to the Father - Jesus is God's Word...
John 1:14 (NIV)
The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.
Jesus is spoken of as 'God's Word' - the Word become flesh. And Jesus even reinforces this idea of 'consuming God's Word' as He instituted the Communion service. We eat the emblems - the bread and the juice - Jesus said this is my body, take and eat. As the Word become flesh - He's still saying to eat God's Word.
And let's be honest - for men, especially guys outside of the Church who don't look at this through a religious lens - the idea of 'craving Jesus', 'craving' some 'guy' - to most, that's perhaps off putting. But Jesus isn't just 'some guy' - Jesus is The Son of God. Jesus is the beginning and the end, the Lamb of God, the hope of the world!
Those truths are what we are to consume in God's Word - Jesus and everything about Him is what we are to crave! When we understand who Jesus is - we will desire Him over everything! And when we seek Jesus first in our lives - Men, Fathers, we will no longer have to fear the label of 'toxic masculinity' in our modern society. Our actions, our boldness, our courage, our strength, our work, our compassion, our words, our bravery, our love - those things will be seen as indispensible to everyone around us!
But those things only matter when they find their significance in Jesus Christ! Just as Ezekiel hard to put in the work to become strong for the task, we have...
B. Our challenge
Men - we are called to set the example for our families. King David wrote this in Psalms 22:4-5 (NIV)...
In you our fathers put their trust; they trusted and you delivered them. (5) They cried to you and were saved; in you they trusted and were not disappointed.
We are called to set the example for the next generation. If we are not fathers, men, people who devour God's Word, who crave Jesus - we certainly can't expect those who follow us to seek Jesus with any amount of passion. And one last thought on this challenge from Ephesians 6:4 (NIV)...
Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord.
And I can hear some fathers saying, "But I don't exasperate my children..." - Perhaps not intentionally. But think of it this way - if you are showing your family through your words or your actions that anything is more important than God's Word, that anything is more important thanJesus - if you do not show them a man who devours God's Word, a man who craves Christ - you are setting them up to be exasperated.
Because they will follow your lead, they will put other things ahead of God's Word, ahead of Jesus - and their lives will be lived just for this life and they will become exasperated. You will be setting them up for huge disappointments in this life and the next.
Without us learning to devour God's Word, without reading and living scripture, without Jesus becoming everything to us - we can't properly do the job that we're called to do. And the God given role of men, of father's, is too big for us to fail - the stakes are too high.
So What?
Men don't need to be less masculine. Men need to love Jesus more. And just so you know - Chuck Norris is a believer which proves you can be both a 'manly man' and a Christian. And did you also know - Chuck Norris can walk on water, he's not anywhere near the same level as Jesus... it's just that the water is afraid of getting him wet.
Back to the point - Just as the smell of food creates a desire for us to eat - our love for our families needs to create a desire in us for God's Word. I know there are many here who have adult children who do not know Jesus - and it tears at you. There is a reality here - some may never accept Jesus. But that doesn't mean we don't do everything in our power to lead them to Him.
But if we don't become people who crave Jesus - our influence with our children, our families, our friends and neighbors and coworkers - our influence will not be strong enough if we don't fall in love with God's Word. If you make Jesus a priority, if you make reading His Word on a daily basis a priority - God can do amazing things through us. But if we do not eat His Word, if we don't crave Christ - we can't become the spiritual leaders we were intended to be. Please make time for Jesus this week!