When I was growing up, my mom made sure our family had nutritious meals. She saw to it that we had a good breakfast, usually eggs and toast, or cereal with fruit in it. She packed our lunches every day with sandwiches, fruit, and a snack, and we had a great supper when we all were together again in the early evening.
With these regular, healthy meals, I had the energy I needed to do well in school and to play sports—my favorite thing to do. Even our snacks at night weren’t the common junk food variety. My mom would buy ample amounts of apples, oranges, bananas, or grapes for evening snacks, telling us we could have as much as we wanted. We certainly took her up on that.
As I got older and left home for college, my meals weren’t as regular or nutritious as they had been when I lived at home. I leaned toward my favorite food group—sweets. I usually chose donuts and ice cream and other foods high in carbohydrates. Even though this type of food was fun to eat, I did notice that my energy level and focus of mind began to decline until I got my diet back on track a few years later. I learned that I needed to not only satisfy my hunger but to also pay attention to the quality of food that I ate. I learned to be more consistent with regular meals and to pay more attention to their quality.
A regular diet of nutritious food is vital to our physical well-being. It supplies us with energy so we can be our best physically and mentally. Similarly, when we keep a steady and systematic diet of God’s Word in our lives, we will manifest the spiritual, mental, and physical blessings God promises in His Word. Our steady diet begins by reading the Word faithfully, then by taking time to mentally digest what we have read or studied. As we live life, we put into practice the Word we have studied and mentally digested. God is absolutely faithful to fulfill His Word, so we will abound in life as we keep a steady diet of God’s Word.
In Acts we find that God calls those who made the Scriptures their steady diet “noble.”
Acts 17:11:
These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so.
This verse is describing the Judeans in Berea. They were more noble than the unbelieving Judeans in Thessalonica, who set all their city in an uproar. What made these Bereans more noble? They had a ready mind to receive the Word, and they searched the Scriptures daily.
A great key to provide “nutrition” to our minds is to read or study the Word daily. Reading the Word in the morning to set our day up right is very helpful. A simple key to help us do this is to have our Bible or reading material, The Way Magazine for instance, set out in a convenient reading spot. I like to keep my Bible on the end table in the living room so I can sit down and start reading it right away. Many times, I will also read the Word while eating breakfast. Newspapers, magazines, and television can be entertaining and informative, but the Bible is the best. It is the Word of Life.
Soon after we hear the Word taught is a great time to go back and review what was taught and make it our own, just as the believing Judeans in Berea did. They put effort into learning and living the Word. In the following verses, we see the psalmist did so as well.
Psalms 119:59 and 60:
I thought on my ways, and turned my feet unto thy testimonies.
I made haste, and delayed not to keep thy commandments.
In order to turn our feet unto God’s testimonies, we first need to know what they are and then keep them fresh in our mind. When they are fresh in our mind, we will be encouraged and much more likely to keep them. We will hasten and resolve to do them promptly.
In a day’s time, we may come across many different ideas from the world from multiple sources. When we’re receiving God’s Word daily, we’ll be able to handle those things according to the Word, since they may or may not be based on it. We think on our ways and judge whether our thoughts and actions are lining up with the Word or not. Then we take the appropriate action if we need to get ourselves back on the Word. By consistently and faithfully taking this type of action, we will see the blessings of God in our lives. That’s why we need the Word dwelling richly in our minds, as Colossians 3:16 says. We don’t want the concepts from the world to drown out the Word, so we keep the Word living large in our minds….
This is an excerpt from the September/October 2011 issue of The Way Magazine.
Copyright© 2011 by The Way International. All rights reserved.
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