The other day in staff meeting, I said the phrase “feast on Christ”. Pastor Scott asked, “What does that mean: ‘Feast on Christ?’”. He asked out of genuine curiosity and also, I think, to make me think.
Because I love poetry, I don’t mind poetic language. Poetic language tends to be somewhat ambiguous, and you have to find your way into the meaning. That’s fun for me. But there can be a danger when we repeat vague terms, assuming others see things the way we do.
Here are some examples of words or phrases we repeat, but don’t define:
Discipleship
Community
Worship
We can’t lift the word fog of the Christian faith in one article, but let’s go on a journey together. Let’s explore what it means to “feast on Christ”.
If you’re still reading, your attention span might be on fumes. And you might be subconsciously or consciously asking yourself who cares? Good question. Here is the answer: you should care because learning to feast on Christ is really just a fancy way of talking about enjoying Jesus. Your joy depends on this.
In John 6, Jesus says He is the “bread of life”. (See, it’s okay to use poetic language — Jesus does!) He goes on to explain:
"…whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst." (John 6:35 ESV)
I believe the Lord is teaching us that our souls are hungry. We have cravings, longings, things we deeply want. Call them passions, life goals, or callings — but the point is we’re creatures of cravings.
This isn’t bad — at all. It is part of God’s design that we have desire. He did not create people as robots nor as animals just operating on instinct, like the squirrel that just ran by my window. He made us to yearn, to want.
He made us to want Him.
The best way to see what God is like is to think about who Jesus is. He is the image of the invisible God (Colossians 1:15). So as we see who Jesus is and what Jesus has done, we see right into the heart of God. And when we see who God is for us in Jesus, meaning how the truth of who God is intersects with our own thoughts, feelings, and experience, we begin to have the experience of enjoying Him. Our cravings meet their true object: God Himself.
Okay, so back to this idea of feasting. I want to share what this means to me in hopes it will help you.
Feasting on Christ means reading the Bible daily. Jesus is the hero of the Bible, and while He might not be mentioned in every text, every word finds its true footing in who He is.
Feasting on Christ means thinking about His gospel benefits, and making them personal. His benefits are endless, but let me give you an example. I read this morning in 2 Corinthians 5 that I am entrusted with God’s message of reconciliation. God has, through Jesus, paid for the sin which separates me from Him, and now I get be adopted into the family of God. I’m His son now because of Jesus. I get to share this story with other people. This text does two things which make me happy: 1) it makes me thankful that Jesus has reconciled me and 2) it makes me feel like my life matters because I have a mission.
Feasting on Christ means praying about his gospel benefits. If my above example is still unclear, try it for yourself. Go read 2 Corinthians 5:16-21. Pray before you read, asking God to open your mind. Read patiently, noticing words and phrases that jump out. Then pray about it. Pray about the ideas you just read about or linger on a specific word, and let yourself explore (verbally or nonverbally, but in prayer to God) what this text means for you. This doesn’t take all day, but you do need to get off your phone and find somewhere quiet.
Feasting on Christ means trusting the Holy Spirit to make you enjoy Jesus more. Simply put, God helps you love God. If you’re a follower of Jesus, you have the Spirit of God in you and He will guide you into all the truth about who Jesus is for you (John 16:13). He will help you understand what you read, even if not immediately. He will help your unhealthy cravings become healthy cravings as they find their satisfaction in Jesus.
You don’t have to like poetry to enjoy Jesus, but you do have to be willing to meditate on His beauty. And you do have to be willing to read your Bible, and apply it to yourself. And you do have to rely upon the help of the Spirit.
Having said all of this, I am afraid we have only scratched the surface. Because we could talk about how we feast on Christ by repenting of sin. We could talk about how we need to feast on Christ with other believers, His church. We could talk about how we feast on Christ in communion. But that’s what’s fun about the journey of following Jesus. He satisfies our cravings, but not so we can get up from the table — so we can stay there and enjoy Him all the more.
Christ is all,
Brad Larson
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