I Am What I Eat

Your words were found, and I ate them, and your words became to me a joy . . . Jeremiah 15:16

Every day, when I step on the scale, it measures the sum of dietary choices, for my entire life, leading up to that point. What I weigh today is a product of what I’ve eaten all of my yesterdays. There are, other variables, some beyond my control, but whether I’m up or down, the scale doesn’t’ lie. I am what I eat, and the scale tells me if I’ve eaten well or not.

Similarly, where I am in my spiritual life today is dependent on what kind of spiritual food I’ve consumed. I’m not saying that when it comes to my relationship with God, I’ve done it all. He first loved me and restored me to him, but in my practical, daily experience, the condition of our relationship relies heavily on whether I fill myself with him or not.

This food metaphor is used repetitively throughout the Bible, but few state it so clearly as Jeremiah in today’s passage. I ate your words. They brought me joy. Jeremiah knew and lived what we must know and live. If we want to know and love God, we must daily consume his word.

We are what we eat and if we feed on a steady diet of social media and TV, predictable results will ensue. We often try to balance out our toxic diet by adding God one day a week, but this is like eating donuts and pizza for six days, only to eat broccoli on Sundays. We live enslaved to alcohol and then try to even it out with church worship. We watch pornography on Saturday night, but clean ourselves up for Sunday morning. We find our identity and purpose in gossip, money, pride, and affirmation from others, but then we claim that God is all-important.

If we are honest enough to measure our spiritual lives though, we will find that we cannot consume spiritual garbage and hope for spiritual health. If we want to grow spiritually, eating healthy is not optional. We must daily abandon the junk food and we must daily consume God’s word.