In Job 23:12 we read these profound words, “I have not departed from the commandment of his lips; I have treasured the words of his mouth more than my portion of food.” The phrase “my portion of food” refers to the food Job needs to live. Ponder that! Job is saying he valued God’s Word more than the food he needed to survive. Think for a moment about the value you place on food. Most of us have trouble going for very long without it! Part of this is our good creaturely need with which God created humanity but part of this can be a sinful over indulgence. Either way, Job’s statement is so profound because we immediately recognize our continual need for food! And this fits with something our Lord said in Matthew 4:4 (quoting Deuteronomy 8:3), “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.” When you read the verse in Deuteronomy it seems to be a statement of fact, but here it seems to be a command. Since it can go either way, I think probably both ideas were intended. As a statement of fact, man cannot live by bread alone even if he wanted to; we need the Words of God in order to live. Those who try to live without the Word of God will not experience the fullness of life available in Christ (cf. John 10:10). As a command, this simply means that all people are required to live by every word that comes from the mouth of God. All of this points to an important reality about being human: you need the Word of your Creator. How does all of this correspond to what we read in 1 Samuel 3? The writer of this text was careful to begin with reference to “the word of the LORD” (1 Samuel 3:1) and to end on the same note: “the word of the LORD” (1 Samuel 3:21). It is important to notice this detail because it frames and illumines the contents in between. There are some important truths in this passage about the Word of God, which the writer wants us to know. It would be good for us to consider: what does our life say about the value we place on Scripture? Is Scripture our supreme authority? Do we long for the words of our God? If the Word of God is our treasure (Job 23:12; Psalm 119:11) surely it will be something we turn to continually and something that comes to mind regularly.