Eat Right!

By Edd Sterchi

“Why do you spend money for what is not bread, And your wages for what does not satisfy?  Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good, And let your soul delight itself in abundance.” (Isa. 55:2).
    Let’s admit something up front: There is food that is good for us and there is junk food. There is food that builds the bones and muscles, and there is food that clogs the arteries. There is food that provides energy, and there is food that adds fat. In short, there is good food and bad food.
    Now, understanding that, let us ask this: Why would people spend good money on bad food? I know the answer, because I have done this (and so have you). We do it because we like the way it tastes.
    God asked a similar question twenty-seven hundred years ago about how His people were feeding their souls. They seem to have been more interested consuming spiritual junk food than in eating a healthy spiritual diet. They were doing this by disobeying God and living in ways that dishonored Him. As a result of consuming the wrong spiritual diet, they were bringing spiritual sickness and harm to themselves.
    But God did not just give the warning of what would happen if they continued eating spiritual junk food, He gave them a dietary plan that would bring them back to spiritual health. They were to “forsake” their wicked ways and thoughts (Isa. 55:7) and “return to the LORD” (Isa. 55:7). And they were to consume the food that was good for their souls – the word of God (Isa. 55:11). Doing this would cause spiritual health which brings joy and peace (Isa. 55:12).
    There’s a great analogy in this for us. When the arteries of the soul are clogged through a bad spiritual diet, cardiac arrest of the spirit can happen. Instead of beating regularly and powerfully with love for God, the heart becomes cold and heavy and spiritual activity stops.
    Christian, do you desire a spiritually healthy life? Then hunger for His word. Feed on it, digest it, and allow it to generate spiritual strength and energy for your life. Eat some “soul food” every day.

- Edd Sterchi preaches for the Broadway Church of Christ in Campbellsville, KY. He may be contacted through the congregation's website: http://www.broadwaychurchofchrist.net/