A Healthy Appetite...

Ever notice how immensely better food tastes in direct proportion to how long you’ve been on a diet? Why is that? You know what tastes the best? Rabbit food, er, salad ingredients, raw vegetables and fruits! When you erase the oil and calories found in most salad dressings and squirt a bit of lemon juice or balsamic vinegar on your salad – WHAM! the real pungent tastes and aromas of the vegetables dance upon your palate. Really! I’m having an all out disco going on in my mouth even as I write. What constitutes a disco? One cup of iceberg lettuce, one cup of raw baby-spinach, ¼ cup of diced green bell peppers, ¼ cup of sliced mushrooms, ¼ cup of shredded zucchini, ¼ cup of sliced peppercinis, diced grilled chicken breast and a splash of balsamic vinegar! My taste buds are truly awakened!

Does reading the Bible ever seem drab and boring to you? Ever wonder why? I would argue that the spiritual junk-food you’re gorging yourselves on is spoiling your appetite for God’s Word. What is spiritual junk-food? For some it may be secular books, for others, it may be television programs, magazines, the internet, movies, and still for others, it may be “Christian” books. Does the latter surprise you?

It’s about 3:30 p.m. and you are on your way home, from anywhere. This morning, mom promised she was making your most favorite meal for dinner. Dinner’s at 6:00 p.m., but you’re hungry now. You decide to stop off at Del Taco and have a chicken soft-taco and a 44-oz diet coke. “Hmm..,” you think to yourself, “that’s not so bad.” Then, you get home and plop yourself on: your bed, the sofa, favorite chair, etc. You catch a whiff of freshly baked chocolate-chip cookies. Oh yeah, you know what’s coming next – a warm, gooey cookie and a big glass of ice-cold milk! So good!

By the time dinner roles around, sure you can eat, but the food isn’t as appetizing and you don’t eat as much cause you’re still partially full from the taco, diet-coke, cookie and glass of milk. In fact, you aren’t even sure what your mom made is still your favorite dinner. You’re thinking of thanking her, but figuring out a way to suggest something else for next time. It never dawns on you the problem is you and your choices BEFORE dinner.

The same is true about reading the Bible. All the worldly things we focus our time and energy on feed our appetite for: entertainment, advice, information, escapism, etc. They are what they are, and usually we are able to tell the difference between quantity and quality. As Christians, we all get the idea we are suppose to be spending time in God’s Word. So, we snack on Christian Books, Daily Breads/Devotionals and Verse of the Day emails – maybe even reading devotional blogs, etc. Is it any wonder, when it comes time to feast upon God’s Word, we are full and disinterested? Somewhere along the way, in our busy day, we think the few minutes it takes to read today’s Daily Bread is sufficient time spent in God’s Word.

Perhaps that is why we become so obsessed with books, movies, games, relationships…anything….we are trying to stave the hunger we feel, but cannot truly satisfy.

So I wonder. How many of us would be going to Pismo Beach if we made spending time with God, quality time reading the Bible every day, a requirement? Not even I would qualify.

Why not join me and go on a spiritual junk-food diet? So, if I’m limiting myself to 50-75 grams of carbohydrates a day…why not limit myself to 30-45 minutes of spiritual junk-food a day? Sheesh, you think! I won’t even be able to watch a full 1-hour television show! Is that so bad?

Which is more important? It really comes down to who or what you are in-love with. Either you are in-love with God or the world. Try a spiritual diet for the next month. Just like people who begin diet and exercise regimens should check with their Doctor fist, you should spend some time in prayer and get an accountability partner. Seek God because you want to, because it brings glory to Him, because He is the only one who can truly satisfy.

I want to be a healthy, thriving, useful Christian. I want people to see Jesus Christ in my life. I want God to get all the glory. Don’t you?