Faith Words: Organic

My daughter-in-law tries very hard to provide organic food for her family. She looks for food that doesn't have added preservatives or hormones or chemicals. She wants her children to grow up strong and healthy.

In addition to learning to make better food choices, I've been trying to improve my own health with various vitamins and supplements. Sometimes supplements are helpful in promoting good health; sometimes they are actually quite harmful. You have to do a lot of reading and studying to make good choices. It's bad practice to ingest anything and everything available at a health food store just because some "expert" has an idea that it will help this or that condition. And just taking healthy supplements instead of eating healthy foods doesn't promote the good health I want either.

In the same way, what kind of spiritual food do I crave? Do I look for teachings that come straight from the Source? Or am I satisfied with teachings that have been blended with the thoughts and traditions of people? Just as sometimes it's difficult to know if the food labeled "organic" really is organic, it can also be difficult to know if teachings offered to us in the name of God are pure. Some teachers are very skillful at presenting their own beliefs as being based on truth when in fact they're based more on half-truths and opinions. 

How do we know? The only way I know is first to study and know God's Word for myself. Then, as I read, study, or hear lessons presented by people, I find myself better equipped to see how they measure up to the Standard. I should never prefer the teachings of a person over the Word of God, even if those teachings are based on God's Word. I do believe it's spiritually healthy to get input from others in order to try to better understand the Scriptures, but the best source for understanding God's Word is God's Word itself.

I'm in a study on Wednesday nights on the book of Proverbs. We have a class book but we're not totally relying on a book written by a person to help us understand the Proverbs. The class leaders emphasize reading and re-reading the chapters of Proverbs to grasp what God is telling us there. We've also been encouraged to memorize a key verse from each chapter. We've only just started and already I feel healthier spiritually.

If my goal is to grow strong and healthy, I have to start where I am right now to try to improve my health both physically and spiritually. It won't happen on its own and no one else can do the work for me. I have to learn to crave good, healthy food instead of junk food.  I have to learn to crave God's Word, too, and feast on it.

Hungry for God,

Patrice

1 Peter 2:2-3 (NIV)

Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, now that you have tasted that the Lord is good.