Do you remember what you ate for lunch three Mondays ago? Yeah, I'm not sure I do either. Knowing me, it was probably leftovers or a classic PB&J. Either way, I know I ate lunch. Well most likely. Sometimes I do skip a day or two, but that's beside the point.

Now, would you all think back to a meal you ate that was absolutely unforgettable. Maybe it was last Thanksgiving? For me, it was at the Blue Bayou in Disneyland Park. The orange-glazed salmon melted in my mouth while the ambiance convinced me it was a slow summer night on the banks of the Mississippi River. The meal was border line mind blowing.

I think that many of us have those meals that we could talk about forever to the uninterested ear. But then again, I think many of us have those meals that don't get much air time either. I mean, let's be honest. I don't think about what I had for breakfast two days ago, and I certainly don't think about what I packed for lunch during a work week.

Whatever the meal, the bottom line is that I ate. In order to stay sustained and alive, I feed my body.

We eat because we need to. It is vital to our existence. Sometimes we want to, sometimes we don't, and whether we do or not can be a tricky conversation to have (and not one we are going to cover at the moment). Sometimes we remember what we ate, but many times we don't. And even though we may skip a few meals once in a while, I think most everyone can agree that food is a staple for life.

So what does this have to do with reading the Bible?

Around my sophomore year of college, I was frustrated when I spent time in the Bible. I felt when I read, I didn't get anything out of it. I didn't feel God's presence. I was convinced I didn't hear his voice, and was wondering why I didn't have divine experiences every time I was in the Word.

Naturally, I tried to fix this issue. I would read my Bible for longer amounts of time. I tried to journal my observations, tried reading shorter sections at a time, tried reading in the morning or in the evening, tried the Old and New Testaments, but all attempts continued without success. I was looking for a "me-defined" divine revelation, and was thoroughly disappointed when I was (or so I thought) revealed nothing. I was upset because I had been told my entire Christian life how I needed to read the Bible, and the tall order was only frustrating.

Oh, I was drastically missing the point.

I had gone into my Bible reading expecting something dramatic and earth shaking. I had started to expect singing angels as I opened my ESV study Bible.

A wise woman during this time asked me a simple question that rocked my perspective: "What did you eat for lunch last Monday?". Utterly confused, she went on to explain something I hope to never let go of.

Reading scripture is like eating meals.

Wait, what?

We read the Bible because we need to, not just because we want to. It is vital to our walk with Jesus. Sometimes we remember what we read, but a lot of times we don't. Sometimes we skip a few readings, or sometimes we skip a lot.

Regardless of what we want, here's the truth. Reading God's word is how He communicates, how He tells us He loves us, how He encourages, how He invites us in to know Him. It is where we get truth in a world with a messed up, blurry view of what truth is. It is how we stay fed, how we stay hydrated, how we stay spiritually nourished.

I have learned that sometimes when I read God's word, there are passages that I call insta-life-changers. These are the passages that have become my unforgettable meals. The very second I read Isaiah 61, my view of Jesus' mission was radically rocked. Hebrews 12 will forever be a passage that gave light into some very dark seasons of sin, and Ephesians 6:12 was read when I desperately needed to remember who I was actually fighting.

But friends, have I always had interactions with scripture like the ones above? No! And I had to learn that that was okay. I needed to learn that sometimes the interaction itself is what is needed. These are my brown paper bag lunches, my bowls of cereal breakfasts, my grilled cheeses for dinner. They are important as the unforgettable meals are important, for all these interactions with God's words sustain me.

Reading the Bible is hard--no arguing here. (Tune into next week for some helpful Bible reading tips.) I will be the first to announce that I can be one of the most inconsistent Bible-readers out there. And you have to know this is not a guilt trip read. I just want you to know you are missing out on some really good meals if you haven't been in the Bible lately.

Jesus desires to communicate with us. He wants us to read His words because they are good and true.

I encourage you to open up God's word my friends, for it is there we truly begin to understand what Jesus meant when he said "I am the bread of Life."