RIGHTLY DIVIDING THE WORD (Milk & Meat)

As we sat down for dinner this evening (Friday), my 5 year old daughter said grace. She prayed the prayer she always prays when we ask her to say grace: "God is good God is great, let us thank Him for our food, in Jesus' name we pray. Amen." When I began to eat, my wife took a picture. It wasn’t until several hours ago, when I was looking at the picture, that the Holy Spirit gave me a message.

In Japan there are five traditional ways of cooking food: boiling, grilling, deep-frying, steaming and raw. "Raw" is included as a cooking technique because of the preparation that is required. There are usually five colors represented in the meal: green, yellow, red, white and black, and there is a balance of six tastes: bitter, sour, sweet, hot, salty and mild.

The individual dishes are filled to two thirds of their capacity so that the patterns on the plates are not hidden. The Japanese are very meticulous when it comes to food preparation so it’s no wonder that, in 2007, Tokyo had a higher rating than Paris, Hong Kong, New York, LA and London combined.

I am much more excited about spiritual food than I am about physical food so that’s enough talk about that; let’s take this to the next level.

The Holy Bible is our food for the spirit. The Word of God is called milk (1 Corinthians 3:2; 1 Peter 2:2) for the baby Christian and meat (1 Corinthians 10:3; Hebrews 5:11-14) for the mature Christian.

Spiritual food must be apportioned properly to completely satisfy and benefit our inner being. The scripture calls it studying (the Word) to be approved by God and rightly dividing the Word!

"Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth." 2 Timothy 2:15 (KJV)

Everyone who preaches and teaches the Word of God must study and be approved before God Himself and must rightly divide or share out the Word of Truth. The words "rightly dividing" are translated from the Greek word ORTHOTOMEO, pronounced or-tho-to-me'-ō. It derives from a combination of the word ORTHOS, meaning straight and not crooked, and TOMOS meaning sharper. ORTHOTOMEO refers to cutting it straight and to teaching the truth directly and correctly.

There is no sugar-coating or over-cooking and no going around in circles either. Its clear-cut, to the point, and laid out or displayed correctly. In this sense preachers and teachers are like chefs in a restaurant, carefully seasoning and serving up spiritual dishes and laying them out meticulously so that those who eat will be properly nourished.

The Japanese way of serving physical food is a great example of how preachers and teachers are supposed to serve spiritual food. I LOVE being God's chef for His people.

"Let your speech be always with grace, seasoned with salt, that ye may know how ye ought to answer every man." Colossians 4:6 (KJV)

God Bless You!