by Gary Chester
You'll be blessed when you work up a good appetite for God in the new
year. Eugene Peterson puts it this way: He's food and drink in the
best meal you'll ever have. (Matthew 5:6 MSG)
God is to the soul what tasty, healthy food is to the body. As the
Psalmist said, my soul is satisfied as with the richest of foods.
(Psalms 63:5 NIV)
My wife, Ro, is extraordinary in the kitchen. I never cease to be
amazed at what healthy, tasty morsels she turns to satisfy my
hunger. They get better and more nourishing all the time.
Likewise, my soul never ceases to be amazed at the nourishment it
gets from God's Word, along with other Christian writings, it gets in
the mornings from my time of stillness with the Lord. Like my wife's
cooking, it gets more satisfying all the time.
But over time I've had to develop an appetite for my wife healthy
delicious meals. The same holds true for God's corrective, uplifting
thoughts.
Growing up on mostly fried, fatty foods, it has taken time for me to
prefer well seasoned light-on-the-salt, healthy veggies, chicken and
fish over artery-clogging pizza, greasy burgers and fries. Likewise,
reared with an empasis on career success and hardly any personal
study of the Bible, it also has taken time for me to acquire a habit
and real love for the Word.
But my body has gotten hooked on feeling physically more fit through
healthier eating. Likewise, my soul has gotten hooked on walking
out a new life in Christ through being hooked on the book. (Read
this week's blog, Wierdness at 2AM, for my odd way to ingest the
Word.)
Cultivating healthier physical and soulful habits takes time, but
tasting them is mouth watering and soul watering good. The enormous
payoff is, All Is well with my soul. Would that kind of payoff not
be worth your effort in '08? And guess what? It eventually becomes
sheer delight to give my all to Him who gave his all for men who win.
Listen to my 8 minute radio show download, Escape from Noise to
Discover Life's Deeper Answers.
