When I first got serious about my spiritual journey some thirty years ago in Virginia, my priest used the Collect for today to begin every Bible study session he led. It calls for us to read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest holy scripture. Now, of course, we know what it is to read, and mark, and learn scripture, but just what does it mean to inwardly digest it? For sure, it’s not talking about reading the Bible from cover-to-cover just to get through it, to add it to our list of accomplishments. Nor does it mean memorizing special verses or passages, although that can be a fruitful exercise.

The digestion metaphor is used to indicate that we need to feed on God’s word. Just as we need food every day in order to be healthy and strong, so we need to pick up the Bible every day and take a hefty bite out of it if we want to grow strong in the Lord. We need to chew the message contained in that bite carefully so we can learn what all it has to tell us. In fact, spiritual tradition suggests that it is helpful to follow the example of cows in chewing their cuds, that is bringing the word to mind over and over through the day and reflecting on what we hear. In so doing, we can digest all the nutrients the passage has to offer us so that we may grow tall in the way of the Lord.

Like manna in the wilderness, God’s word for us is fresh and new each day. The message we receive from any particular passage is different each time we ponder it anew because we are in a different place in our spiritual journey. Our needs are different; our readiness to receive what God has to offer is different. Because God meets us where we are, as we are, the word that comes to us addresses the various situations in our lives at the time. God continues to reveal new insights to us as we put previous ones into practice, as we take action to show that we are taking the message to heart, that we recognize it has our name on it.

What we have received, we are called to share with others. As we come to inwardly digest the word of God, God will use us to help those who can’t find the banquet table or those who find that the food is too rich for their starving stomachs.