The book of Ezekiel can be a difficult read, with a number of images and descriptions that are hard to understand. But there's one figure that ought to seem somewhat familiar to us. 

In Ezekiel 2 starting in verse 8, we read:

“But you, son of man, hear what I say to you. Be not rebellious like that rebellious house; open your mouth and eat what I give you.” And when I looked, behold, a hand was stretched out to me, and behold, a scroll of a book was in it. And he spread it before me. And it had writing on the front and on the back, and there were written on it words of lamentation and mourning and woe. And he said to me, “Son of man, eat whatever you find here. Eat this scroll, and go, speak to the house of Israel.” So I opened my mouth, and he gave me this scroll to eat. And he said to me, “Son of man, feed your belly with this scroll that I give you and fill your stomach with it.” Then I ate it, and it was in my mouth as sweet as honey."

What does this image mean - what am I supposed to get out of Ezekiel eating a scroll? As it turns out, this is a pretty common image in the Bible, and it seems to be the same idea that we get from reading about Jesus' discussion with his disciples in John 6: Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. In essence, the word of God personified in Jesus is instructing his followers to eat his flesh. And his point I think is exactly the same as what the Lord is telling Ezekiel.

It’s not enough to simply read the word, or hear the word spoken to you. You need to internalize it, absorb it, make it a part of yourself. It should be the thing that sustains you – the thing that gives you life.