Friday, January 11, 2013

Hungry?

The correlation between eating healthy foods and being spiritually healthy is pretty amazing. It's the start of a new year. How many of you are saying "I'm going to eat better" or  "I'm going to start reading the Bible more", etc... I know I'm in that boat! So what are some things we need to change to get spiritually hungry, and to be healthy? Many times when we feel like God is far away or like we can't muster up enough energy to spend time with Him, the reason is because you aren't doing anything to get hungry.

When you want to get healthy one of the keys is to stop snacking on junk food. To stop filling up on unhealthy things. How many times do we choose the easy way out, stick to our comfort foods and graze, just getting bits and pieces here and there, or picking the pre-packaged, boxed "fillers"... yet remain hungry or start realizing you are filling on junk, that leaves you feeling worse? A good place to start is to begin by fasting. It's good to detox every once in a while! Fasting is like hitting the reset button physically and spiritually. It's showing God what is most important to you. It's a great place to check the motives of your heart and to stop for a moment and re-align where you are getting your nourishment from.

It dawned on me recently that the reason we (I) don't feel spiritually hungry (a deep desire to spend time with God/ know more about Him) sometimes is because we are filling ourselves with junk food. We snack on things which turns out to be just enough to curb our appetite, but not enough to nourish us and keep us satisfied. We snack on sermons, books, worship, godly advice etc, but we don't sit down at God's table and dine with him. We don't go deep in the Word or prayer where the real nuggets of truth can fill us and nourish us. Some of those snacks seem healthy, and can be, but they are never as whole as sitting down and reading the Bible, allowing God to speak revelation to you, seeking His face. We can even snack on completely unhealthy things- things that can lead to or are sin... or even the things that don't "seem that bad" like TV or advice from someone, or social media (and the list can go on). They are just enough to hold us off emotionally so we don't feel the need or desire to spend time with God.

Let me just say from experience on the roller coaster of life, you gotta always check your appetite. Check what you are filling up on. Check where you get refreshed and if you ARE really getting refreshed at all! I don't think you can truly be refreshed aside from being in God's presence. Sit at the table and DINE with God. Eat of HIS food, and see how healthy you get!