A Sip, Swig or Swallow

Thought for the Day: Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. Matthew 5:6
Maybe its part of my southern phrasing or perhaps my southern verbiage, but in the part of Virginia where I grew up the terms sip, swig and swallow were used interchangeably. For instance, if someone had a beverage that you desired to taste or aid a quick thirst, you would simply ask them for a sip, a swig or a swallow. Growing up employing these words, I naturally continued the terminology with my husband, Gary, (a northeasterner) and the children we bore together. In fact, now that my kids are grown they tease me constantly with asking, Mom would you like a swig of my water? Or Im offered, Mom, how about a swallow of my pop? Whatever the reasoning these words have brought a lot of teasing and laughter as my family associates these three terms to their mothers southern roots. Recently, as Gary and I were biking we stopped mid-way through our routine journey to stretch our legs and quench our thirst. He asked, Can I have a sip of your water? Puzzled, I looked at him and began to laugh. As I slowly repeated his request, we both chuckled as I mentioned after thirty years my terminology must be rubbing off. As we mounted our bikes and headed for home I was nudged by the Holy Spirit. Looking over at Gary I said, Wow, that could be a devotional. How do we absorb the Word of God? Do we sip, swig or swallow what we learn? We continued peddling and discussing the following comments. Being more precise with the definitions recorded in Webster, a sip is a drink that is taken in small quantities. Comparatively, the sippers are perhaps the occasional church attendees. Possibly they attend weekly services, but have no regular involvement in Bible study programs, participating in choir or committees or placing much money in the offering plate. The swig drinkers take in long drafts of nourishment. They conceivably partake in some of the abovementioned church opportunities. Although they attend church or Bible study classes regularly, sing in the choir and are members of various committees, their involvement has not been internalized. They know all the stories of the Bible, but their service has not penetrated their spiritual lives. They live good lives and do good deeds for their community, but their service and attendance often times is cyclic. Interestingly, the swallowers take in nourishment by gulping as much as humanly possible at one time. These individuals eagerly consume Gods Word and continue to guzzle in the

teachings of Christ allowing these lessons to penetrate their mental, emotional, physical and spiritual outlooks. Every area of who they are becomes affected by the sustenance being allowed into their mouths and being absorbed into their stomachs! If you remember the role of the stomach in the process of digestion, its job is to move that nourishment around breaking it into fragments for easier consumption passing it along for the rest of the body to be fed. God wants us to enjoy, appreciate and be able to comprehend His Word as easily as the stomach can daily digest food supplements. His desire is to present His teachings in ways we can readily digest and absorb so that we might pass that knowledge on to others. How do you take in the Word of God and the lessons He has written in scripture? Are you a person who sips, swigs or swallows? The more you take in, the more you become like Christ.

Father, thank you so much for taking words I learned as a child and bringing home a lesson on absorbing the scriptures. May we as your children graduate from sipping and swigging to become swallowers of the Gospel of Christ, gulping daily from the eternal fountain that will never run dry! In Jesus name, Amen.