Gracious words are like a honeycomb, sweetness to the soul and health to the body.
Proverbs 16:24 (ESV)
Series Focus: “Coffee Talk”
I love when spring meets summer. It’s the time of year the smell of fresh cut grass and the robust fragrance of flowers is in the air. Baby birds cry out to their mamas for food, the barbecue grill gets fired up, and our cul-de-sac is full of children laughing and playing.
Summer breaks for young kids are a type of nourishment for their souls. With no early alarms, no stress to do homework, kids feel a special type of joy and freedom as their eyes open each morning. Adventure awaits!
What about you? How can you, as an adult, find nourishment for your soul? What helps motivate you, strengthen you, and energize you? I hope many of you just answered, “Jesus.” He is the primary source of our sustenance. He brings peace, joy, kindness, goodness, and so much more into our lives. In the gospel of Matthew, Satan tempts Jesus after He had been fasting forty days and forty nights. Jesus was hungry, scripture tells us. Yet when Satan tempted Him to command the stones to become loaves of bread, Jesus responds:
But He answered, “It is written, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.”
When I think of what gives me energy to function and perform my daily activities, food ranks close to the top. I must confess; caffeine is possibly higher. But even on my best days, nothing I eat or drink fills my soul like the word of God. This is what Jesus is telling us. We need Him to be the fuel for our lives.
Think about your circle of friends. Do they ever need help? Encouragement? Advice? If we aspire to be wise, patient friends, friends who provide more than a sandwich, we must soak in God’s truth. In this, the nourishment we ingest can pour out to them in times of need. My cherished friends don’t need my advice, they need the power of Christ. We sharpen each other in these moments because we ground ourselves in the Word of God.
Nurturing friendship, using God’s word as our sharpening tool, allows us to better share scripture with each other, pray with and for one another. Meet your sister where she is and truly seek to understand her “why.”
As iron sharpens iron, so a friend sharpens a friend. (Proverbs 27:17 NLT)
As we support one another’s hopes, dreams, and ambitions, we should also challenge one another to know God more. Seek the Lord with your whole heart so your friends may see what knowing Him deeply looks like.
Seek the Lord and His strength; Seek His face continually. (1 Chronicles 16:11 NASB)
Just as we need food for our physical bodies to thrive; our soul needs gracious words of nourishment to blossom. Let’s be friends that bring sweetness to the soul.
Holding Fast to Hope,
Jen
Scripture References: Matthew 4:4 Proverbs 16:24, 27:17; 1 Chronicles 16:11; Jeremiah 29:13