Tower of the Lord

Have you ever heard the saying “you are what you eat”? For instance “if you eat nerds candy then you are a nerd”, of course that is just a funny interpretation of the meaning and I think that it originally meant “if you eat healthy food you will be healthy, but if you eat junk food you will be unhealthy”. Now while this may have been a “worldly” concept originally, I believe that it can apply to our spiritual lives as well. So what makes our spiritual diet healthy or unhealthy? Let’s start by taking a look at the spiritual “junk” food that makes up an unhealthy spiritual diet.

Junk Food
Potato chips, candy bars, soda pop, “snack” foods and chocolate, these are just a few of the many kinds of physical junk food that we feed our bodies that are not good for us. Before I start comparing “junk food” with “spiritual junk food” I would like to point out that a candy bar every once in a while is not going to kill you and I personally like chocolate. This comparison is not perfect but it does work. The main difference is that spiritual junk food is more like poison and even a little can cause problems.
Spiritual junk food is the little “white” sins that we think are okay especially when compared to the “big” sins of murder and adultery. In essence this is one of those fabled “little white lies” that we hear of and which do not really exist. Taking that CD from the store is just as bad as robbing a bank, actually just thinking of taking that CD is as bad as robbing a bank. As Jesus said in Matthew 5:27 “You have heard that it was said, ‘Do not commit adultery.’ But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.” It is not the actions only that God will judge because He knows your heart and judges the sins that take place in your heart. If you think of sinning and do not take that thought captive to Christ then it becomes a temptation which leads to sin, and sin ultimately leads to death [James 1:14-15]. These “little white lies” that the enemy tries to convince us as okay are in-fact just as wrong in the sight of God as any other sin. To God anything that is not completely pure and Holy is entirely sinful and unholy, just the smallest “little white lie” is way too much. This is why God called us to the ultimate standard, His word says “But among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God’s holy people.” [Ephesians 5:3]. As Joshua Harris wrote in his book Not Even a Hint “So what is God’s standard when it comes to lust [or any sin]? How much lust [sin] does God want us to allow in our lives? Are you ready for this? The answer is not even a hint. That’s right. Nada. Zip. Zero. I’m not saying this to be dramatic. I really believe it’s what God calls each Christian to regardless of what kind of culture we live in of how old we are. And it’s not because God is heavy-handed, or strict for the sake of strictness. It’s because he loves us — and because we are His. It’s because He is wise and His wisdom exceeds our understanding.” Mr. Harris later goes on to explain why he believes God made the standard so high “One of the reasons God calls us to cleanse our lives of lust [sin] completely is because He knows that lust [sin] never stays at the level of ‘just a hint’. Lust [sin] is always an unholy desire for the forbidden… It’s goal is the very act of desiring. The result is that lust [sin] can never be quenched.”. So because of this we must maintain not even a hint of junk food [sin] in our lives if we want to be spiritually healthy.

Spiritual “Health Food”
On the opposite end of the food chart is heath food, unlike junk food health food is the stuff that is good and beneficial to our bodies this is the stuff that helps us to grow strong and enables us to fight off the attack that come against us. In Joshua 1:8 we are told “Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful.”. So the first type of health food is the Word of God, we are to meditate on it and study it so that we can grow. A strong hunger for God’s Word is a good sign of growth and development in our spiritual lives. When a baby desires more food we know that he/she is growing, likewise when a Christian desires more of God’s food (His Word) then we know that he/she is growing in Christ. And as a baby grows into a man he starts to long for meat and not just milk, so also does a growing Christian want more spiritual meat as he grows in the spirit. “For everyone who partakes only of milk is not accustomed to the word of righteousness, for he is an infant. But solid food [meat in KJV] is for the mature, who because of practice have their senses trained to discern good and evil.” [Hebrews 5:13-14]. We do not start out eating meat when we are infants rather we start out by eating (drinking) milk so that we can grow stronger and become able to eat meat. We must start out by building our foundation upon the Rock of Christ and learning the basics of God’s Word before we eat the meat of the deeper meanings of scripture.

“Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me and to accomplish His work.” [John 4:34]. This is another kind of spiritual health food, doing God’s will. Whenever we are walking in God’s will for our lives we grow and prosper, because God’s will is for us to prosper. “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” [Jeremiah 29:11]

So if we are what we eat then what are you? Are you a healthy, strong and growing Christian? Or are you a junk filled, sinful, stagnate Christian? I would like to challenge you even as I challenge myself. Be a healthy and growing Christian, eat what’s right and shun what is wrong, grow in the wisdom and knowledge of God and maintain Not Even a Hint of junk food in your spiritual life.