How Both Eating Dinner and Reading the Bible are Acts of Faith

Every day, we engage in at least one act of faith: We eat!

Think about it: Most of us don’t understand how food is digested, nutrients are absorbed, and chemical changes occur to energize our cells and sustain our bodies. We might scroll TikTok and learn that acai is a superfood, that sugar isn’t good for you (which is a huge disappointment, tbh), or what magical breakfast will ensure we have energy all day long. (Please let me know if you discover that secret. Afternoon brain fog is real.)

In the end, we don’t wait to become an expert about food chemistry, nutrition, and human biology before we eat. We just eat our gluten-free, Paleo, vegan, keto, high-protein dinners in faith, trusting that it nourishes us even when we can’t see or understand the process (and when meals feel boring).

Jesus reminded us that we cannot survive on physical food alone, but we live “by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God” (Matthew 4:4, NKJV). Like natural food nourishes our bodies, God’s Word somehow nourishes and gives life to our innermost being, though we don’t fully understand how. We have to “eat” it (read the Bible) for it to do this work in us.

Just as better physical health naturally follows good eating habits, reading the Bible with open hearts and minds encourages the development of greater faith in God, according to Romans 10:17: “So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God” (NKJV). When we read Scripture with open hearts, we can trust that it is changing us more than only broadening our knowledge or intellect.

The value of reading the Bible regularly isn’t in the act itself, as if God gives us extra credit for our discipline. The value lies in the transformative nature of God’s Word.

(Side note: This is true of all spiritual disciplines, practices, or habits – the discipline/practice/habit itself is never the point. They are means of opening our hearts to deeper connection to and communion with God’s heart.)

Hebrews 4:12 describes the intrinsic power of God’s Word: “For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart” (NIV, emphasis added).

Engaging with God through His Word helps transform us from the inside out.

It’s not hard to notice when we need a physical meal—food in our mouths and bellies. I wasn’t the worst cook when our kids were growing up, but my family will confirm that I was a terrible meal-planner. (I sometimes usually didn’t think about the dinner plan until 5:00 pm, a *bit* late.) Our dinners often became boring and predictable due to my lack of attention. The meals weren’t always enjoyable, but our grumbly tummies and sagging energy told us we needed to figure it out, and we ate anyways!

The symptoms of hunger are hard to ignore. Our stomachs (and/or our spouse and kids) let us know it is TIME for us to eat.

It’s much harder to notice the soul’s hunger because we don’t recognize the symptoms as easily. We often miss or misunderstand them. We can even become spiritually “hangry” and not realize it, and it is easier to “skip meals.” (Reading the Bible regularly isn’t the only way our souls are fed, but it is a critically important and foundational one.)

So, what helps?

A few thoughts:

1. We can choose to trust (to have faith) that Jesus was telling the truth that we need more than physical food for our lives to be healthy, so we don’t give up on engaging with the Bible.

2. We can choose to trust that engaging with the Bible is somehow nourishing and shaping our souls even when we don’t understand how, and continue to read/eat our spiritual food in faith. (Even if it’s bite-sized “snacks” for now!)

3. We can choose to trust that God and other people can and will help us discover different ways to engage with Scripture that is life-giving in various seasons.

Our family didn’t give up on eating when food was boring. In time, our family meals became less predictable because I learned from others how to plan and prepare some foods differently, adding new seasonings and trying new cuisines. I’ve graduated from “not the worst” cook to a decent cook. (Aaand I’m still not a great meal planner…Baby steps, people.)

Similarly, we might need to learn how to engage with the Bible differently when reading feels dry or unhelpful—like learning new preparation techniques and discovering different seasonings in cooking. We typically can’t do this on our own but need to learn from and with other followers of Jesus. The openness to learn is also an act of faith in God’s heart for us.

(Psst… I’ll share some ideas of engaging with Scripture differently in my next post!)

Please don’t misunderstand and think that we should always find reading the Bible new, fresh, or invigorating. We won’t, and that is not the goal. Sometimes we eat meals we don’t love but we know are good for us, and sometimes we find our way out of a “rut.”

Even so, we can have faith that reading the Bible is actively doing a good work within us even when we don’t understand how. Especially when we don’t feel or notice the work of God.

The Bible is not merely a book of text; it is a written revelation (literally: revealing), waiting to be awakened in us by the Holy Spirit. John 1:1 declares that Jesus IS the Word. The Bible reveals Jesus to us and helps to infuse trust in His power into our innermost being.

When we open the Bible, we’re opening ourselves to connect and commune with Jesus Himself. So, let’s enjoy the ‘meal’! Let Jesus, the Living Word, work in each of us through His powerful, written Word.

What do you tend to do when reading the Bible begins to feel dry or boring?

What ways have you discovered to engage with Scripture differently?

To comment or subscribe, please view this post on Substack.