Swapping Appetites

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. — Ezekiel 3:3

Give us this day our daily bread. — Matthew 6:11

I’ve been trying to get back into really good shape. I’ve been working out six days a week with some pretty good results. However, the one thing I cannot seem to do that hinders my progress, is eat right. If cake wasn’t wonderful . . . I’d be fine.

The other thing I’ve been doing is praying through the Lord’s Prayer. Not just reciting it over and over, but spending some time on each point. After saying “Our Father which art in Heaven, Hallowed be thy name” I camp out there and just breathe that fact in for a while. I contemplate and tell Him just how awesome He is. The other day, when I got to “give us this day our daily bread”, I thought about how I have not for one single day ever lacked for physical bread. I have never lacked for any amount of food whatsoever. In fact, I have always had access to many times more than my share of “daily bread.” I have also eaten way more than my share of daily bread.

I didn’t realize this until I downloaded this app called “My Fitness Pal.” Upon entering all my information, I found out that I need 2,250 daily calories. I quickly found out, I was getting that amount way too often at single meals. I made some fairly difficult adjustments, and within a couple of weeks, I was on track and melting away.

Ezekiel said that he ate the scrolls . . . they were sweet and satisfying. I do not lack for spiritual bread either. I have Bibles galore. I have more than my share of books that honor Him. My spiritual pantry is loaded. Why don’t I gravitate toward them like I do the food in my kitchen cabinets? I am praying for an appetite swap! I want His Word to become ridiculously sweet to me. I want to devour it and just keep on eating. If I‘m honest, I’ve been giving Him a minimal amount of time lately. Yes, I was making it a point to pray and read a little of His Word every day, but it wasn’t tasting to me the same as it was to Ezekiel. I was spiritually eating just barely enough to keep me alive. Zeke and I were definitely not experiencing the same thing.

Lord, I pray for your power and wisdom. Help me begin a new habit and break an old one. Help me desire prayer and your Word more than I desire food, for such a desire can only come from You. Help me gravitate toward my Bible, prayer, and the things of You in the same way I gravitate towards my refrigerator and kitchen cabinets. Grant me the experience of Ezekiel in this verse I am contemplating. May your Word be the sweetest thing I’ve ever known. May everything else pale in comparison. Help me get to the place where I can’t get enough of your sweet, sweet presence.

There is none like you, Lord!

Later

Adam