Diet.. Everyone is on a diet. You probably are thinking about the ‘don’t eat anything you really want’ diet…..the ‘lose weight’ kind. Trouble is, a lot of us are on a ‘gain weight’ diet, or perhaps a ‘be unhealthy’ diet….
If you eat, you are on a diet. Maybe not a specific, conscious, on purpose diet, but you have one. We eat or we don’t live long….and sometimes we don’t live long because of our eating.
It’ a complicated subject, one I am led back to time and time again. My mouth. What I put in it, and what comes out of it.
Jesus said this, ‘Don’t you know that anything that is swallowed works its way through the intestines and is finally defecated?’ (Matt. 15:17 The Message) There is purpose in our eating, and I believe we are to enjoy our meals…Jesus Himself feasted... but the ultimate purpose of food is to fuel the engines of this body we reside in. The nutrients are extracted and the rest is eliminated. It’s gross, but that’s the truth of it.
There is another diet that is critical to our health, the spiritual diet of feeding on God’s Word. ‘It takes more than bread to stay alive. It takes a steady stream of words from God’s Mouth.’ (Matt. 4:4 The Message)
What is this ‘staying alive’ thing in the Matthew 4 passage?…just keeping the motor running? I think not.
‘The one who brings a hearty appetite to this eating and drinking has eternal life and will be fit and ready for the final day….whoever eats this Bread will live always.’ (John 6: 54,58 The Message )
I have a candy jar on my workstation. People comment on how pretty it is. But when they put their hand in and taste what it holds…they want more. (chocolate easter eggs are gooooood !! )
‘Taste and see that the Lord is good..’ (Ps. 34:8NIV)
I have tasted…and now I crave Him more and more. It has a much more powerful draw than candy eggs….I can’t sustain a healthy life on candy eggs, but I will have a long life…eternal life. I intentionally feed on The Bread of heaven. He sustains my spirit. He will sustain my life eternally.
‘…If anyone eats of this bread, she will live forever….’ (John 6:51 NIV personalized by me ) Hallelujah.
