Life’s True diet
Television is obese with shows about chefs, foods from around the world and eating competitions. Then the news comes on about famine and food shortages in other regions and tribes. What Jesus said applies to both realms. ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.’ Matthew 4:4.
Here is another reason why I convinced about the Bible and committed to its author, Jesus. You may live on the richest foods yet in God’s sight you are not living. Alternatively, you may be constantly hungry yet in the Lord Jesus’ eyes you are alive. The difference is diet. Not as the World considers food but from Christ Jesus’ perspective.
To come alive to God, to grow strong in knowing Him, to mature in serving Him and to be healthy to worship the Lord God Almighty requires a special diet. Jesus lived it out as well as outlined it. True life is feeding upon every word from the mouth of God. This raises a problem. There are many religious and so called spiritual books and program which are really poisonous to the soul and spirit. How can you determine the real and the healthy from the bogus?
Consider the long term outcome of prolonged indulgence in any spiritual diet. Will it bring you to a personal understanding with the Living God? Will it simply satisfy for the moment but in life’s tough times leave you powerless? Will the promoted recipes for living actually lead you to a fruitless and hopeless end? So many diet programs, whether spiritual or gastronomic are designed simply to make the authors rich.
The Bible claims to offer food fare with an eternal guarantee. Do we know any who have tasted it and lived a fulfilled life, regardless of their earthly circumstances? Actually the Bible is filled with those who have tasted and found God’s word satisfying, fulfilling and energizing. The most notable of these is none other than Jesus. The record of His life is testimony to the nourishment of God’s word for top level living under adverse conditions. Since then the testimonies of those who have taken on board Jesus’ menu for life bear testimony in life and death to its value. Their stories fill books, magazines and DVD’s.
Life may burn up our emotions, deaden our souls and corrupts our spirits. How then can we be satisfied and overcome such inner pangs? By what has been prepared by our Heavenly Chef, the Holy Spirit. He serves it to us when we read or hear the Word of God. The hunger of the heart is satisfied! God has a word which guides the searching of the mind into meaning. It provides hope about God’s grace, forgiveness and acceptance. God’s word has something for you to devour and to be filled when dealing with everyday situations. The Bible is described as milk for the spiritually new born. It is bread and meat for the maturing. It never has a used by date and is fresh every time we go for a ‘meal.’ The Psalmist gives a wonderful invitation: ‘O taste and see that the Lord is good: blessed is the man that trusts in Him.’ Psalm 34:8.
Ray (ever satisfied by God’s Word) Hawkins
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