What if I told you that I could tell you who will be ten years from now? Would you believe me? Would you want to know? I’m not a magician, or a psychic; but a friend once shared how to find this answer. You will be the sum of who you hang out with, what you watch, the things you listen to, and how you spend your time. Ultimately, how you live your life affects who you become. It’s like the saying ‘you are what you eat.’ In the spiritual sense, as we consume all these various influences in our daily life, it impacts our spiritual health. G.D. shares more on this comparison in this poetic analogy:
“When the food in the stomach has been digested, it resembles milk; then it is conveyed into the lungs, where it is cooked by the oxygen of the air, and becomes beautiful red blood; it is then poured into the heart, and the heart, like a steam pump, throws it all over the body, to build up the wasted organs. This same process is carried on in the soul. Truth is perceived by the intellect, digested by the faith, and through the constant in-breathing of the divine Spirit this digested truth is turned into love, which constitutes the very life and substance of the spiritual man.”
This brings us to the question ‘what are you consuming and is it healthy for you?’ Who doesn’t like junk food?! In the Sedillo house, some Picasso’s pepperoni pizza, juicy medium buffalo wings and a couple scoops Perry’s ice cream sounds like a meal fit for royalty. Even though my mouth is watering just thinking about it, if we ate that for every meal, we would find ourselves in some real trouble. What can sound good in the moment would bring on the heartburn a few hours later and with frequent indulgences it would add extra pounds and do damage to our heart and bodies. At that point, the immediate satisfaction of my taste buds does not justify the outcome. In Galatians 5 Paul challenges us to “walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the flesh craves what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh.” Ultimately when we walk by the Spirit the fruit in our lives is “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.” These are all desirable traits but in order to have the energy to walk in step with the Spirit, we must eat right. We need to taste and see the goodness of the Lord and consume the bread of life that satisfies our souls. That means getting our minds right as we read the Bible daily, pray often, think about His goodness and character. When we think about him, it will influence our actions which will form habits that shape our character and determine our destiny. We will look back at our lives ten years from now and see the fruit of a life lived in step with the Spirit. We will be grateful we said no to the flesh and set our minds on the things of God and we will look forward to the next ten years even more in love with God than we began walking with him.
“When the food in the stomach has been digested, it resembles milk; then it is conveyed into the lungs, where it is cooked by the oxygen of the air, and becomes beautiful red blood; it is then poured into the heart, and the heart, like a steam pump, throws it all over the body, to build up the wasted organs. This same process is carried on in the soul. Truth is perceived by the intellect, digested by the faith, and through the constant in-breathing of the divine Spirit this digested truth is turned into love, which constitutes the very life and substance of the spiritual man.”
This brings us to the question ‘what are you consuming and is it healthy for you?’ Who doesn’t like junk food?! In the Sedillo house, some Picasso’s pepperoni pizza, juicy medium buffalo wings and a couple scoops Perry’s ice cream sounds like a meal fit for royalty. Even though my mouth is watering just thinking about it, if we ate that for every meal, we would find ourselves in some real trouble. What can sound good in the moment would bring on the heartburn a few hours later and with frequent indulgences it would add extra pounds and do damage to our heart and bodies. At that point, the immediate satisfaction of my taste buds does not justify the outcome. In Galatians 5 Paul challenges us to “walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the flesh craves what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh.” Ultimately when we walk by the Spirit the fruit in our lives is “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.” These are all desirable traits but in order to have the energy to walk in step with the Spirit, we must eat right. We need to taste and see the goodness of the Lord and consume the bread of life that satisfies our souls. That means getting our minds right as we read the Bible daily, pray often, think about His goodness and character. When we think about him, it will influence our actions which will form habits that shape our character and determine our destiny. We will look back at our lives ten years from now and see the fruit of a life lived in step with the Spirit. We will be grateful we said no to the flesh and set our minds on the things of God and we will look forward to the next ten years even more in love with God than we began walking with him.