Saturday, January 31, 2015

Spiritual Famine



Ashley got a cotton candy machine for Christmas. You can use regular sugar, or even more fun, any type of hard candy to make the cotton candy. So we've had peppermint, spearmint, caramel, cinnamon, root beer, and various fruit flavored cotton candy. It's so cool to watch the hard candy tumble around for a minute, then suddenly, strands of cotton candy appear. Wispy, delicate, tasty strands of deliciousness appear where moments before a chunk of hardened sugar had been. I'm not sure if Ashley or Scott has enjoyed it the most.

I like cotton candy, but just a taste or two. Any more than that is just too much sweet for me. I did an experiment once as part of a diet program. You had to pick a favorite food that you normally wouldn't eat on a diet because it was “bad”. Then you had to eat that food, just that, at every meal. EVERY meal! Three times a day. For days and days. I chose ice cream. The first day, it was awesome. Here's a food I hadn't eaten in ages, because it was not healthy. Under the plan, you could have all you wanted. So I ate it and thoroughly enjoyed it, for breakfast. It was AWESOME! Lunch came around, and I had more ice cream. I was loving it. Supper time....ice cream. The next day, for breakfast, I had ice cream. It didn't taste quite as good the second day. Lunch rolled around, and I really wanted a turkey sandwich or something, but I had ice cream. By supper, I would have loved to have a real meal, but ice cream was all that was on the menu. By about the fifth day, I hated ice cream. I didn't just dislike it a little, I really, really hated it. The sight of ice cream, the smell, the texture, the bland look, all turned my stomach. After that little experiment, I didn't want ice cream for a very long time.

Cotton candy, ice cream, donuts, cake, cookies, junk food....all of it is fantastic in moderation. But if that's all you have, it leaves you wanting. It doesn't fill the nutritional needs of the body, so even though the stomach is full, your body craves other food. It yearns for the nutrition you really need, and it revolts at the junk food. God designed your body to know what it needs.

God designed your soul to know what it needs too. At times in my life, I have dug deep in God's Word and devoured the nourishment it provides. But there have been other times that I get busy and my Bible time and/or prayer time gets pushed aside. I grab a few verses here and there, I shoot a prayer upwards as I rush around, but it's superficial and not sustaining. It doesn't take too long before my soul starts to revolt. My soul knows I need that time in prayer and Bible study to grow and be healthy. And it doesn't take too long before my spiritual malnourishment starts to show. Thankfully, the cure is readily available. But sometimes it takes me a while to realize what my problem is. I never set out to forgo my Bible and prayer time. I just let myself get so busy that my quiet times become shorter and more interrupted and less focused until they are no longer much use. I get a little sustenance out of them, but not the deep nourishment I really need. And just like I never intend to stray into unhealthy eating habits, I sometimes get busy and grab something quick instead of slowing down and having the healthy meal I need. I have to force myself to take the time to fix the healthy food. And I have to force myself to take the time to nourish my relationship with Jesus.

I fear that many Christians are living on a junk food type of spiritual existence. I've talked to people who tell me they just don't have time to read the Bible, or that they intend to come to church, but they never do. I know people who find praying boring, or too time consuming. They run to God when there is a crisis, but otherwise, they subsist on the barest of spiritual disciplines that they can get by with. And it shows. Their faith is weak, their lives don't flourish, they don't grow in their spiritual life. You can get by that way, just like you can get by on donuts and Big Macs. But it won't be living life to the fullest. It won't be experiencing all the blessings God desires for you.

What about you? Are you living the abundant life, or are you you in a spiritual famine? God is always available.