You Are What You Eat!

In Chapter 4 of Matthew, we are told, “…people need more than bread for their life; they must feed on every word of God.” So it seems that the axiom, “You are what you eat!” finds an application not only in the physical, but also in the spiritual, realm. A diet rich in God’s Word is life-sustaining; conversely, a diet consisting mainly of “cheap foodstuff” can cause our spiritual health to suffer. Those who regularly feast on and are obedient to the Word of God enjoy an improved quality of life and grow ever stronger, because God’s Word provides soul-satisfying nutrients like these:

• Knowledge and freedom - To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, "If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” ~John 8:31 and 32
• Encouragement and hope - For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through the endurance taught in the Scriptures and the encouragement they provide we might have hope. ~Romans 15:4
• Faith - Now I commit you to God and to the word of his grace, which can build you up and give you an inheritance among all those who are sanctified. ~Acts 20:32
• Peace - Great peace have those who love your law, and nothing can make them stumble. ~Psalm 119:165
• Guidance and direction - Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path. ~Psalm 119:105
• Training to do God’s work in the world - All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. ~2 Timothy 3:16 and 17

Author Eugene Peterson put it this way: “Christians feed on Scripture. Holy Scripture nurtures the holy community as food nurtures the human body. Christians don’t simply learn or study or use Scripture; we assimilate it, take it into our lives in such a way that it gets metabolized into acts of love, cups of cold water, missions into all the world, healing and evangelism and justice in Jesus’ name, hands raised in adoration of the Father, feet washed in company with the Son.”

Remembering that you are, in fact, what you eat: are you feeding on a lot of “cheap foodstuff” these days? If so, perhaps it’s time to institute some changes to your nutritional regimen, to experience a diet more abundantly full of God’s Word. Taste… savor… digest it. Allow it to nurture and fortify you. And because a meal is much more enjoyable when consumed in the company of others, share it! For when you do, others will come to understand how truly satisfying a diet replete with God’s Word can be.

Photo by Anna Pelzer on Unsplash