I’m going to lose all the vegetarians in 3…2…1! I eat meat. And as a recovering vegetarian, I find moments when the sight of meat sizzling on a pan is too much to handle because I can envision feathers or the hoofs once attached to the carcass. Gross, I know.
The patience poured into each piece of meat is interesting. It’s an art, if you will. Yes, meat by itself is tasty. Heck, even raw meat is great [Think of carpaccio with a buffalo mozzarella or a sashimi sushi]! But I believe you can take something good and make it better. Like marinating.
Hebrews 5:11-14 compares our spiritual maturity to that of an infant processing food. As a mature believer, consuming meat [solid food] is a sign of our spiritual ability to break down God’s word.
To build upon Paul’s analogy, I want to take the idea of meat [God’s word] and marinating it. Or should I say marinating in it?
Marinating is a process that tenderizes meat and adds complementing flavor. To take the example of the barbecue house near my gym, the cooks prep by mixing about 12 spices, a splash of Jack Daniels, some bourbon, and a secret sauce they won’t reveal and lather the meat before the load it into the smoker. For 8-10 hours the meat absorbs the flavors and the outside caramelizes due to the low heat. By the time the meat is ready to be served, it’s so tender you can pull it off with your fingers.*
Now compare this to God’s word. If we just eat scripture up [read a portion daily or weekly], it’s good. It’s carpaccio. But guut Got, if we season that junk up with 12 spices, a splash of living water, and refine it by low fire, do you KNOW how good that spiritual piece of meat will taste? Its heaven-sent barbecue, people! F’real.
I came upon a scripture that I read before and simply glanced over it. However, I thought about how packed with info it was and I wanted to do some marinating. I’ve been marinating on two scriptures for a month. Seriously. I haven’t read anything else but those TWO scriptures every day. I’m marinating it and hope is that it becomes savory and seasoned and so good I would be selfish not to share it.
Eat up, y’all. Dig into His word because nothing will satisfy you more that Bread of Life, Meat of His word, and Living Water. Bon appetite! 😉
What piece of God’s meat is your fav? Have you been eating the proverbial carpaccio or seasoned meat? Have you been eating anything?
*Not like I would know. I am afraid to the go to the restaurant because I heard they serve unlimited bread balls as appetizers and the meat is addictively good. I told Matt I could be tempted to binge eat and leave nothing more than a trail of bones in my wake. Get behind me, Satan!
Love the analogy! Never thought of it that way. I’ve always read to consume info. (Speed reading, looking for critical points, absorb & move on as quickly as possible)
Essentially I’ve been binging–Not exactly what God intended.
The idea of marinating in this context makes so much sense. You’re brilliant. (but again, we all knew that!)
Thanks, sistah 🙂
K, now I’m craving some really yummy sloppy Bar B Q ribs….mmmmmm:)
Hmm. I have probably eaten it raw for the past few years. I used to marinate a lot more. This year, I’m reading through the Chronological Bible in a year … so I guess I’m at the all-you-can-eat buffet of Biblical meat. Sometimes it’s difficult to chew, but I’m trusting that the process will give me a really great birds-eye view of the Bible. It’s tough for me, I’ll admit it. I have never done something like this before.
love this analogy bianca, we always forget to go back to the basics and just slow down once in a while!!
Great analogy.
Yesterday I met up with a friend and we were talking about the difference of reading God’s word verses being a student of God’s word. I experienced the “meat falling off the bones” with the books Isaiah and Hosea. Looking back (as far as this morning), the secret ingredient: a broken and contrite heart, the Lord will not despise. I’ve noticed that when I come broken before the Lord, I am able to thoroughly enjoy the “steak” He has before me.
PS. One of the few words of wisdom that I got to hear at the One Conf was from Bob: It’s ok to snack on the Word of God, but you can’t survive on snacking!
You’re a gem! Thanks so much 🙂
Yes! Two things hit me in this analogy this afternoon…1) I’m hungry! 2) I want to visualize God’s Word as a slow roasted, richly marinated, mouth-watering wonder on my plate. I mean, it’s been marinating for over 2000 years, I want to KNOW that fall-off-the-bone goodness. I don’t know about you, but every time I experience amazing BBQ, I leave the scent clinging to my clothes. I can only imagine what marinating in God’s Word would surround me with…and those around me wouldn’t be able to ignore it either, right? 🙂
Thanks!