It’s an occupation hazard, you know … sitting at a desk for a good portion of the day where the non-physical activity is interspersed with meal times and occasional snacks. Slightly detrimental I’d say. It was only recently that I decided to embark on a little diet regime which i hope would keep me a little more in check and bring back some of the youthfulness to this 29 year old just before he turns 30 in about a month’s time. Seems to be working, I’ve lost a bit of weight and hope to see the ‘downtrend’ continue.
In this my first more genuine attempt to actually start on a simple diet plan to lose some much ‘not-needed’ weight, it got me thinking. Here I am depriving myself of some of the usual food fare that I’m used to tucking away. For the first time, I’m watching calorie counts and making sure i drink lots of water etc etc. Now, there’s nothing quite wrong with a getting involved in a good nutritious diet or a fitness plan to trim down. It’s important to look after this physical body God has given us. But there’s something much more important than watching what you eat and physical shape…. it’s the taking care of our spiritual diet and our spiritual condition.
Spiritual lethargy is a sad reality amongst believers of any generation. And in this generation, we have seen that there are a myriad of things that occupy our time so much as to crowd the out Lord from our lives. Just to name a few … there’s the tv and the net, RSS feeds, books and magazines, techno gadgetry, meetings and meetups , movies, cooking, children and there’s even gym and fitness programs to add to the mix. Basically, anything can become an idol in our lives if we don’t keep it in check and we slacken in our walk with the Lord. The book of 1John ends with 5:21 “Little children, keep yourselves from idols.” Idols are anything which take the place of God at the center our lives and replaces His influence.
And so I’d borrow from an analogy of what we can do to maintain our walk with Lord strong and vibrant …
Point 1: Watch what we eat. We all need a steady supply of consumption of God’s Word. This is where true spiritual nourishment is found. Sometimes, we may enjoy reading a book by a Christian author to the neglect of actually going to the word. But there are no substitutes for the word of God and to spiritual vigor. I’m reminded of the words in Psalm 1 “But his delight [is] in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night. And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper. ” (2:3). His preoccupation is with the word of God and he consumes and is consumed by it, the results are blessings which the Lord would not withold because he is well nourished.
Now, watching what we eat also entails being careful of what you and I should not consume. And the word of warning in 1Peter 2:11 tells us “Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul” and we are not to “.. make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof. ” Romans 13:14.
As believers we ought to be careful of what we allow our eyes to see and mind to take in. Gal 6:7-8 “Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting.” Just as in any case, there is cause and effect if you do that which can only be detrimental to you … we will reap blessings if we sow rightly.
An interesting passage on nourishment is when the apostle spoke to young Timothy.
1Tim 4:6-8 If thou put the brethren in remembrance of these things, thou shalt be a good minister of Jesus Christ, nourished up in the words of faith and of good doctrine, whereunto thou hast attained. (7) But refuse profane and old wives’ fables, and exercise thyself [rather] unto godliness. (8) For bodily exercise profiteth little: but godliness is profitable unto all things, having promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come. (9) This [is] a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation….
God desires that we are nourished in the words of faith and good sound doctrine. It tells me that nourishment comes from God’s word and we to be put remembrance of these things.
Verse 7 leads me on to my second point. Alongside nourishment, we also need something else.
Point 2: Exercise
It’s time to pick up the pace and work off the lackadaisical attitude. Paul contrasts it with bodily exercise to tell us that exercising ourselves toward godliness is so much more profitable. That’s because there is an eternal value tied to it. This body can and will decay one day, it is inevitable. But just as the man in Psalm 1, even in his old age he will be as a tree planted by the river and his leaves shall not wither. Speaking on the trials and afflictions in life, we are reminded “For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day.” 2Co 4:16. How do we exercise ourselves toward godliness. It mean put yourself to the test of living a godly life. It entails the rest of the apostle Paul spoke regarding how we are to be careful to be prayerful in our walk, careful to maintain good works (Titus 3:18), exercising discernment (Heb 5:14), it’s exercising to “… live soberly righteously and godly in this present world” (Titus 2:12) . It is also in keeping our conscience clear before the Lord just as he said in Act 24:16 “And herein do I exercise myself, to have always a conscience void of offence toward God, and [toward] men.”
Believer, are you facing spiritually leanness? Have you lost the joy and desire of walking with the Lord? If we are undernourished and spiritual vitality has waxed away, God calls us back to His Word. And to balance it up … don’t forget the exercise.
Antioch Agent 
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