What day is it? Is coffee good for you or bad for you today? Should we be giving up dairy? Meat? It all gets so confusing at times. We try so many things to alter our physical bodies. We do the same to ourselves spiritually. Not everything we take in spiritually actually produces the results we desire. However, this story puts our spiritual diet back on track.
          “My beloved friend, Jill Briscoe, once visited what had been an extremely poverty-stricken country in Africa. As she flew in, she looked down on miles and miles of African veldt that had previously been covered by a lush grass-like crop, but was now an unbroken, brown, dusty plain stretching all the way to the horizon. As Jill traveled to the mission station where she would be staying, mile after mile of barren, dry, poverty-stricken land passed by her window. Little dust devils danced in the hot afternoon sun, while shimmering heat waves made the emaciated, dust-covered people walking listlessly beside the road look more like ghostly apparitions than humans.
          The veldt had once been a beautifully green, rolling expanse covered by a newly discovered crop that adapted easily to the climate and soil of the area. Within a few short years, this crop had promised to make the people in the area totally self-sufficient as it became the main and plentiful, staple of their diet.
          Sadly, the relief workers shook their heads as they explained what had happened: The crop had, indeed, become the main staple in the diet of the local people, but too late it had been found to have no nutritional value at all. The tragedy was that hundreds of people had starved to death- with their stomachs full!
          Those pitiful Africans people seem to symbolize many church members in America today who are spiritually starving to death with their stomachs full! We have made the staples of our “diet” those things that have no real nutritional value- political agendas, social issues, human rights, books about God’s Word, musical videos, theological formulas for reaching the postmodern man, and strategies for the local church, along with myriad of conferences, seminars, retreats, dramas, and “special events.” None of these things is harmful in itself, but when substituted for the nutrition of daily Bible reading and prayer, the result is increasing spiritual starvation. The average church member is desperately hungry for God’s Word. While we read books about it and hear sermons on it and live by principles from it, we are sadly devoid of it on a daily basis. When our lives begin to unravel due to pressure, problems, or pain, we don’t seem to know how to access its power and truth in a personal, relevant way that makes a difference. As a result, thousands have spirits that are shriveling even while they are sobbing, “Please, just give me Jesus!”
          What does your spiritual diet consist of? Although you may be an active church member or committed Christian, could it be you are actually starving for the Bread of Life? Are you starving for the Bread, which is Jesus Himself, offered to you and me through God’s Word?”
          Anne Graham Lotz, Just Give Me Jesus, pages 309-310
Blessings,
Kathy Withers

Kathy’s on staff at America’s KESWICK in the Development Department. Kathy has been married to her husband Dave for 27 years.  They have two adult children. Kathy is active in her local Church and has taught Sunday School and Bible Studies for women. Her passion is to encourage women to deepen their walk with Jesus Christ by finding and living out the truths of God’s Word.