In Revelation 3:19-20, God reminds his church that those he loves, he reproves and disciplines. He gets their attention as he says, “Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me.”

So have you been eating with him lately? How would you describe time and meals with God?  Drive-thru on your way to something else? A picnic in the park? A hearty summer BBQ? A lingering holiday kind of meal?

Considering more biblical language, is this how you would describe your current passion and practice?

• “Your words were found, and I ate them, and your words became to me a joy and the delight of my heart, for I am called by your name, o Lord, God of hosts” (Jeremiah 15:16).
• “Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation- if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good” (1 Peter 2:2-3).

Whenever I’m in a season where his words don’t taste that way to me, it’s worth talking to him about. And it’s often a time I sit under the truths of Psalm 119, Romans 15:4, 1 John 5:3 with Matthew 11:28-30, 2 Peter 1:3-10, and 2 Timothy 2:16-17.

Regular eating nourishes our soul and fuels us for communing with and walking with Jesus. It gives me an opportunity to remember who God is and what he has done which helps me know who I am and what I am to do as a worshipful response. As I hold up the mirror of God’s Word to myself, he helps me see things that are stuck in my teeth that need to be cleaned out; he helps me see the gaps and things that aren’t aligned to Jesus as my Lord. Beholding him changes me for the better.

I like to think about rhythms with Jesus in terms of daily eating, weekly feasting, and monthly reflection.

Daily Eating

In response to the temptation of the devil, Jesus answered, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live on bread alone but by every word that comes from the mouth of God’” (Matt. 4:4).  We can read for breadth or depth. We can read devotionally and studiously. We can pick up a pen and write out a verse or a keyword from it.

There were good reasons in Deuteronomy 17:18-20 that God told a king to make a copy of the scroll for himself: “it shall be with him and he shall read it all the days of his life that he may learn to fear the LORD his God, by carefully observing all the words of this law and these statutes, that his heart may not be lifted up above his countrymen and that he may not turn aside from the commandment…”

Weekly Feasting

While I can eat regular meals during the week, I like a special meal periodically. Maybe you have Friday night pizza, taco Tuesday, or Saturday morning waffles and bacon. I take Mondays as my day off of work, and I regularly choose to take extended time with Jesus that I think of as a weekly feast. The main goal is to have extended time with Jesus since he is the better portion (Luke 10:38-42). During that time, a key question I have learned to ask is: What does my heart need? The goal of the time is to be with Jesus and how that looks will be different each week.

The Psalms model a wide range of ways to start communion with God. Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise. Come boldly in a time of need. Come weary and heavy laden under Jesus’ yoke to learn from him and get rest for your soul. Pour out your heart to him for God is a refuge. Some psalms begin by remembering and declaring truth about who God is and what he has done. Some psalms begin with questions on the psalmist’s heart. We can come to God because of Jesus.

Let me tell you about some of the ways I tend to use parts of a weekly feast with Jesus in case something resonates with you that you also want to pray through or work through.

• Notice that I don’t know how I am doing. I don’t know what my own heart needs because I have been too focused on other things…demands of ministry, the practical to-dos, etc. I take inventory of my heart and talk to Jesus about it.
• Notice fruit in my life that indicates something is off at a heart level- I’m seeing one of the fruit of the Spirit like gentleness or patience shriveling, and I need to ask the Master Gardener to help me know what is going on and to grow it again. Or where I see dandelions of sin pop up in my life, and I deal with the top day by day so it doesn’t spread but I haven’t had time to take it out at the root level.
• Notice a relational struggle. I don’t want to answer a call from someone or I feel peopled out despite love for them. Perhaps I thought I forgave someone as part of daily keeping a short account, but I find I play a situation back in my head. Or perhaps I forgave someone for what they did, but I have internalized their words or actions and so have another deeper to explore with the Lord to understand shame or where I need to rest in my identity in Christ
• There is something I read in the Word earlier in the week that I know needs more attention. I’m confused about it. Or it told me something about who God is and while mentally I agree…I realize that I am struggling with functional unbelief or just really need to soak in that truth more.

So sometimes I go into my Feast Day knowing what I want to work on or work through something specific with Jesus. That restores rest even if it sometimes feels like work to work through things at a heart level. I never regret time spent that way as I’m freer by the days’ end.

Whereas other times I don’t feel like there is anything in particular unresolved or that obviously needs attention. Then I just get some extra time with someone I love!  I may read a large portion of a narrative. I may draw or doodle a verse I am trying to memorize to help me “chew” on it. I may read a whole book in one sitting. I may mark up a text to study it more deeply. I may trace an attribute of God to deepen my love.

Either way, I’m most likely to start with a simple prayer and then time in the Word. I want to let God tell me what He wants to tell me through His Word. Whether as part of my regular Bible reading plan or, often, I will start in a Psalm before I get to any deliberate focus area that would help me address any of the heart needs I described.  I let him speak to me in his Word because I can’t tell you the number of times where, since His Word is living and active, he brings up things I would never have known my heart needed… reminders of his work or character, reminders about his plans and purposes, commands that would not be on my radar had I not paused to hear from Him through his Word. And with hearing from him comes responding.

This is an opportunity for you to come to Jesus. To the one who has given us his yoke and promises to walk with us. To the one who leads with a heart that is gentle and humble. With him, we don’t need to fear what he tells us or what we discover about ourselves because his love and faithfulness and the power of the gospel is for us again today. Be with him, let him restore rest, deepen your relationship, and help you lean into his strength.

Monthly Reflection

I went on a day away with some women from my church this past month. We went to a park, and I encouraged them to spend an hour meeting with God. If they didn’t have a place in the Bible already picked out, I encouraged them to start with Psalm 138 since that was particularly meaningful to me recently. I also gave them a tool I created for myself to aid a monthly reflection. Sanctification often feels slow even if it is steady. It can be a gift to take a bigger view to reflect on a month at a time. As I do that, there are times I am more able to see ways God has grown me that I can’t always spot day to day.

I like to use my churches’ vision and values as part of what I reflect on to see how I am living it as a disciple of Jesus…not as an employee in a church. I’m including an example here. You can use either of these monthly reflection tools or let it inspire you to create one that is customized to your church or context.

Caution: Resist the urge to let this become prep time for teaching others. We shouldn’t be surprised that when the Word has dwelled in us richly that it expresses itself in teaching and admonishing other people (Col. 3:16-17), but that isn’t first the command or goal.  

May we eat, feast, and reflect to the glory of God this month.