July 28, 2016

Diet Change

Psalm 1

Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.

—  Philippians 4:8

As a young child, I ate what my parents fed me. As I grew older, I had more say and choices about the foods I would eat. Since I got married, my wife, who cooks most of our meals, has had a lot of influence over what I eat, and I’ve gladly ­accepted that.

Like most people my age, I’ve recently had to pay more attention to my sugar, salt, fat, and fiber intake. To stay healthy, we have to stay away from junk food and choose food wisely.

The same holds true in our spiritual life. The saying “you are what you eat” applies not only to diets but also to our daily living. The philosopher Ludwig Feuerbach in his essay “Concerning Spiritualism and Materialism” wrote metaphorically, “Man is what he eats.” If we feed our minds on trivia, our lives will be trivial. The psalmist knew this too, indicating that if we feed on the Word of God, we will be “like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season . . . .”

Do you pay attention to what you are taking in every day? Are you reading trashy literature, listening to ungodly music, or paying attention to gossip (in tabloids, in social networks, in conversations)? Or are you feeding on the living water that only Christ can provide (John 4:13-14; 7:38)?

Thank you, Jesus, for giving us the living water, your Word. May we feed on it daily and bear fruit for you. In your name, Amen.

About the author — Jimmy Tai-On Lin

Rev. Jimmy Lin is the Chinese ministry leader of The Back to God Hour. With his staff in Palos Heights and Hong Kong, Rev. Lin has ministered to over 1.3 billion Chinese-speaking people around the world for 16 years through radio, literature, CD/DVD, Internet, and text message. His wife, Doris, is one of the translators of Today into the Chinese language, which now has a circulation of more than 45,000 copies.

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