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The secret of living the Christian life to be an overcomer is for us to take the way of eating and enjoying Christ as the tree of life; God does not intend for us to do anything for Him; His only desire is to give Himself to us as food for our enjoyment; only those who take the way of enjoying Christ as the tree of life will see their life and work remaining in the New Jerusalem—Gen. 2:9; Rev. 2:7.
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We can eat the Lord Jesus as our spiritual food for our enjoyment, receiving Him as the Spirit who gives life through eating His words of spirit and life by means of all prayer and by musing upon His words—John 6:57, 63; Jer. 15:16 and footnote; Eph. 6:17-18; Psa. 119:15 and footnote; Matt. 4:4; Psa. 119:103:
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When we eat the Lord Jesus by eating His words of spirit and life, we live because of Him (John 6:57, 63); we live not by Christ but because of Christ as our energizing element and supplying factor; we live Christ in His resurrection, and we live Christ by eating Him (Gal. 2:20; Phil. 1:19-21a).
Morning Nourishment
Gen. 2:9 And out of the ground Jehovah God caused to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food, as well as the tree of life in the middle of the garden and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.Jer. 15:16 Your words were found and I ate them, and Your word became to me the gladness and joy of my heart…
To touch the tree of life is to touch God, and…to touch the tree of the knowledge of good and evil is to touch fire and death. In order to serve God and work for Him, a Christian must learn to stay away from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil… For example, a couple may be arguing. Our natural concept is to exhort them to be reconciled with each other, but if we know the principle of the tree of life, we will not exhort them to be patient or humble. If we are clear about the principle of the tree of life, we will lead this couple into life. Only those who touch the tree of life will see their life and work remaining in the New Jerusalem. Those who are sinful will go into the lake of fire. Those who are merely moral will also go into the lake of fire…Within the tree of life there is surely love and humility, but the love and humility that issue from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil end up in the lake of fire. Only the virtues that issue from the tree of life will last in eternity. (CWWL, 1932-1949, vol. 2, pp. 224-225)
Today’s Reading
To muse upon the Word is to “chew the cud,” like a cow eating grass (Lev. 11:3)… If we take in the Word too quickly, we shall not have very much enjoyment. But if we “chew the cud” as we take in the Word, our enjoyment will increase.When we muse upon the Word of God,…we shall spontaneously pray… Furthermore, we may converse with ourselves or begin to praise the Lord. We may be so inspired by the Word that we want to shout our praises to the Lord.
Usually musing upon the Word will be slower and finer than pray-reading the Word. For example, in our musing upon Exodus 20:2 we may say to ourselves, “Remember that Jehovah is your Lord. He has brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the slave house, the house of bondage. Now you are out. Amen! O Lord, I worship You for bringing me out of bondage!” In all our musing upon God’s Word, talking to the Lord or conversing with ourselves, we should be spontaneous and full of enjoyment. We may bow down to worship the Lord, ponder the Word, remember, or give ourselves a rebuke… Any genuine seeker of the Lord who muses upon the Ten Commandments in a living way will enjoy the Lord, worship Him, pray, converse with himself in the Lord’s presence, and also praise the Lord. Surely one who takes the law of God in such a way will not apply it as dead letters, but will take it as God’s living word.
To muse upon the Word of God is to enjoy His Word as His breath. It is to contact God in the Word and to have fellowship with Him, to worship Him, and to pray to Him through and with the Word. By musing upon the Word of God in this way, we shall be infused by God, breathe Him into us, and receive spiritual nourishment.
Concerning musing upon the Word, Psalm 119:147 says, “I anticipated the dawn and cried out; I hoped in Your words.” Here we see that the psalmist rose up before dawn, cried out, and hoped in God’s word… Musing upon the Word involves more than just meditating on it. We muse upon the Word by talking to God, worshipping Him, enjoying Him, receiving grace from Him, and conversing with ourselves in the Lord’s presence.
If we muse upon the Word of God, we shall delight ourselves in the Word. Sometimes we may weep before the Lord or sing hymns of praise to Him. (Life-study of Exodus, pp. 670-671)
Further Reading: Messages Given during the Resumption of Watchman Nee’s Ministry, 2nd ed., vol. 1, ch. 16; CWWL, 1965, vol. 2, “The Tree of Life,” chs. 1, 8-9