By Hank Hanegraaff

Nothing should take precedence over getting into the Word and getting the Word into us. If we fail to eat well-balanced meals on a regular basis, we will eventually suffer the physical consequences. Likewise, if we do not regularly feed on the Word of God, we will suffer the spiritual consequences. Physical meals are one thing; spiritual meals are quite another. The acronym M-E-A-L-S will serve to remind you that the Spirit will illumine your heart and mind as you memorize, examine, apply, listen, and study the Bible for all it’s worth. The Word of God is the sword of the Spirit. When we grasp it, His illuminating power will flood our being.

MEMORIZE. One of the best things that happened to me as a young believer was being told that all Christians memorize Scripture. By the time I found out that not all of them did, I was already hooked. Now, as I look back, I can say truthfully that nothing compares to the excitement of memorizing Scripture. God has called us to write His Word on the tablet of our hearts (Proverbs 7:1–3; cf. Deuteronomy 6:6), and with the call He has provided the ability. Your mind is like a muscle. If you exercise it, you will increase its capacity to remember and recall. If you don’t, like a muscle, it will atrophy.

EXAMINE. In Acts 17:11, we read that the Bereans “examined the Scriptures” daily to see if what Paul was teaching was true. For that, they were commended as being noble in character. Examining the Scriptures may take discipline and dedication, but the dividends are dramatic. The Bereans examined the Bible daily, and so should we. Examination requires the use of our minds, and the Bible exhorts believers to use their minds to honor God. Paul urged Christians to test all things (1 Thessalonians 5:21) and to be transformed by the renewing of their minds in order to discern the will of God (Romans 12:2).

APPLY. As wonderful and worthwhile as it is to memorize and examine Scripture, it’s simply not enough. We must take the knowledge we have gleaned from the Word of God and apply it to every aspect of our daily lives. Wisdom is the application of knowledge, and wisdom is precisely what Jesus emphasized in concluding His majestic Sermon on the Mount:

Everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash. (Matthew 7:24–27)

LISTEN. In order to apply God’s directions to our everyday lives, we must learn to listen carefully as God speaks to us through the majesty of His Word. Like Samuel, we should say, “Speak, [Lord,] for your servant is listening” (1 Samuel 3:10). As Jesus so wonderfully put it, “My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me” (John 10:27). One of the most amazing aspects of Scripture is that it is alive and active, not dead and dull. In other words, God continues to speak through His Word. The Spirit illumines our minds so that “we may know the things freely given to us by God” (1 Corinthians 2:12 nasb). Heretics have no key to the mind of Scripture. Thus, they turn it into a wax nose. They purpose, said Saint Irenaeus of Lyons, “to weave ropes of sand,” and in so doing “dismember and destroy the truth.” The manner of the heretic is “just as if one, when a beautiful image of a king has been constructed by some skillful artist out of precious jewels, should then take this likeness of the man all to pieces, should re-arrange the gems, and so fit them together as to make them into the form of a dog or of a fox, and even that but poorly executed.” Worse yet, by drawing attention to the authenticity of the jewels, they “deceive the ignorant who had no conception what a king’s form was like and persuade them that the miserable likeness of the fox was, in fact, the beautiful image of the king.”

STUDY. Scripture exhorts us to study to show ourselves approved by God, to show ourselves as workmen who do not need to blush with embarrassment but who instead “correctly [handle] the word of truth” (2 Timothy 2:15). In examining Scripture, it is typically best to start with one good translation and stick with it. In studying, however, it is best to use a number of good Bible translations. To aid in your study of Scripture, there are many wonderful resources including study Bibles, commentaries, and Bible dictionaries.

Jesus said, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst” (John 6:35 nkjv). May the acronym M-E-A-L-S daily remind you to nourish yourself with the Bread of Life.

My son, keep my words
And treasure my commandments within you. Keep my commandments and live,
And my teaching as the apple of your eye. Bind them on your fingers;
Write them on the tablet of your heart.

Proverbs 7:1–3 NASB

MEMORIZE

EXAMINE

APPLY

LISTEN

STUD

For further study, see Hank Hanegraaff, Truth Matters, Life Matters More: The Unexpected Beauty of an Authentic Christian Life (Nashville: W Publishing Group, 2019).

***Note the preceding text is adapted from The Complete Bible Answer Book: Collector’s Edition: Revised and Expanded (2024). To receive for your partnering gift please click here. ***