Following God's "Diet Plan" For Life With Him

"Today's Devotion" For June 4, 2005

Read: II Peter 1:2-21; Psalm 119:105-112

FOLLOWING GOD'S "DIET PLAN" FOR LIFE WITH HIM

"Your Word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path." (Ps. 119:105)

I just read an article that got me thinking. According to the most up-to-date research, people who include low-fat yogurt as a part of their diet lose, on average, 14 pounds in a twelve week period. I've read similar research statistics in various journals and online publications for the past six months or so. The research statistics I read yesterday show that the aforementioned average weight loss of 14 pounds in twelve weeks was 22 percent higher than the result of other dieting habits that didn't include low-fat yogurt. In addition, people who included low-fat yogurt three times a day in their diet plan lost 66 percent more body fat and 81 percent more stomach fat (the most dangerous kind of fat). The researchers went on to note that their research also showed that when most people diet, especially obese people, they exclude dairy products, and a corresponding source of calcium, from their diets. Apparently, the calcium, along with some other benefits of the yogurt, are important for weight and fat loss and the maintenance of lean muscle mass.

As I mentioned above, I've been reading similar statistics on the value of low-fat yogurt to weight and fat loss for at least six months. Every bit of research I've read has strongly recommended three servings of low-fat yogurt per day. Do you know how much low-fat yogurt I'm eating every day? None! Zilch! Nada! While I've been constantly been encouraged by research data to do a good thing for my physical health and continued weight and fat loss, I've ignored it and continued on my merry way. I have to admit that I've become a bit "punchy" about eating too much dairy since passing a couple of kidney stones, yet it's hard to call three servings a day of low-fat yogurt "too much." The truth is that I can give all kinds of excuses why I'm not eating more yogurt, but none of them hold water. The same can be said of drinking plenty of water and getting regular and proper exercise.

Our spiritual "diets" are often like that as well. We're told by our Father in heaven that our relationship with Him is jeopardized by Sin every day. We understand that we are sinners who fall short of God's glory. We hear in Scripture how important it is for us to "be in the Word" daily, gather for worship with our brothers and sisters in Christ, partake regularly of the Lord's Supper, and spend time on our knees in prayer, both at home and with others. You might call these the "Four Pillars of the Christian Church" (cf. Acts 2:42). We know that a steady diet of violence, lewd behavior, denial of God's truth, and a host of other, human and misrepresentation of God's truth has a tendency to ruin our spiritual health because it places our focus on the wisdom of the world and not God's. Sadly, just as we so often ignore or avoid the things necessary - proper diet and exercise - to keep us healthy and strong physically, so also do we ignore those things essential to our spiritual health and a loving and full relationship with God through Jesus Christ. Even when we know it's good for us, we still ignore our real needs and indulge ourselves in things detrimental to us.

Just as we know from a great deal of research that certain things, like eating low-fat yogurt, are good for our physical health, so do we also know from the testimony of God's Word and evidence from the lives of the saints of God that following a sound, disciplined, spiritual diet is essential for our spiritual health and our relationship with our Father in heaven. Our Lord Jesus Christ gives us myriad examples of such a spiritual diet. We're told that the boy Jesus grew in "wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man" (Lk. 2:52). Throughout the Gospels we see Jesus spending time with the Father in prayer for strengthening and refreshment of His spirit (note especially the Garden of Gethsemane - Lk. 22:39-46). He encourages us in our own prayer life and relationship with the Father as He teaches us to pray in the Lord's Prayer (Mt. 6:5-13). He gives us the spiritual "food and drink" of His Body and Blood so that we might never be spiritually hungry or thirsty (also cf. John 4: 1-26 - The Samaritan Woman at the Well). By faith in Jesus we have the power to overcome our tendency to ignore what's good and necessary for us spiritually (also physically) that we might live in a healthy relationship with our Father in heaven. Following God's "diet plan" for life with Him is the best thing we could ever do.

Prayer: Father, I'm not too good at following diets of any kind. Following a health, disciplined, spiritual diet is even harder than following a healthy, disciplined, physical diet. I like to indulge myself physically and spiritually because it "feels" good. I too often fail to recognize the consequences of such indulgences for my physical or spiritual health. As I read Your Word I'm reminded that my spiritual health and my physical health are intertwined, and that when one suffers, so does the other, since my body is a "temple of the Holy Spirit" (I Cor. 7:19). Forgive me, Father, for so often failing to follow Your "diet" for me. By the power of Your Word and Spirit, strengthen me to seek You daily in Your Word and come to You in prayer and supplication, trusting You to hear me and answer according to Your Will. Guide me to live my life in such a way that I show others Your love in Jesus Christ so they, too, may have life with You. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
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--Pastor Boeck

Copyright © 2005 Rev. Richard J. Boeck, Jr. All rights reserved.