I really enjoy food.

I’m the kind of person who likes to have 5 small meals a day plus snacks.  Some days if I am really busy I forget to eat and I start to feel it–gradually the headache and lethargy setting in!  Slowly but surely my effectiveness fades, I begin feeling grumpy and unfocused.  But if I grabbed a snack or better yet a full meal, I’d quickly come back.  The same is true spiritually.

Romans 12:11 gives this charge:

“Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord.”

Never lose passion and intensity, always be earnest and effective.  Wow!

When my body starts to lose energy I know just what to do.  When I see the signs I don’t ignore them, well, maybe and that just makes it worse.  I go right to the things that I know will pep me back up–food, an ice water, a quick nap, a walk outside.

It’s concerning that a lot of us think it’s normal to be sluggish in our service of the Lord.  Of course we don’t want to be comatose but we don’t feel comfortable having the kind of gusto this verse calls us to.  When we try to find a safe place in the middle—kind of living for the Lord when we can, but trying to appease ourselves too– it ends up frustrating our spiritual purpose: to have initiative, a heat, an excitement.

As Christians we should know how to cure any spiritual passivity.  We can’t expect to have energy and stamina in serving the Lord without consistently drawing on the nutrients of God’s Word!  The Bible is the place where God reveals himself. The way we can keep our spiritual fervor is ingesting and digesting his Word throughout the day, at least as often as we feed our bodies!