Food

You don't really appreciate food until you can't eat. This is my major lesson of the past week. I'm doing alright with softer foods at the moment, and my follow-up appointment tomorrow will determine if it's safe to graduate to "real food" again. Not being able to even eat a sandwich has proven to be the hardest part of having my final wisdom teeth removed -- more difficult than even the pain. Believe it or not, I like food, and I'm looking forward to us getting back together again soon. Somewhere there is a cheeseburger with my name on it.

There is, of course, more than one type of food. No, I'm not talking Italian vs. Mexican vs. Korean. I mean physical food for the stomach and spiritual food for the soul. Writing about the Israelites in the exodus, Paul says, "They all ate the same spiritual food and drank the same spiritual drink; for they drank from the spiritual rock that accompanied them, and that rock was Christ" (1 Corinthians 10:3-4). For us to survive in the deserts of this world -- grief, heartache, loneliness, burnout, anxiety, stress, daily life -- we need spiritual food. We need the spiritual rock, Jesus Christ.

And the good part? There's no such thing as spiritual gluttony; you can't have too much prayer, Scripture, church, good deeds -- you can't have too much Jesus. And the only part of you that will get bigger isn't your waistline; it's your heart. The more spiritual food you take in, the more love and godliness you put out.

It may not taste like a Whopper, but keep a steady diet of spiritual food. I promise it's even better.