We want everything fast, right now, in a hurry because we are busy people and our days are packed. There is work, kid’s activities, running errands, social media to check, games to play on our phones, our dogs to feed, the favorite TV show to watch and not enough time in the day to add anything else. Our spiritual life gets squeezed out and put in the “if I have time” category.
We vow to make some time for God and we download a Bible app on our smart phones and get a Verse-a-Day that we read. We follow the tweets of some famous Christian speaker. We have devotionals emailed to us. We listen to Christian radio on our way to and from work. We have a devotional on our night stand and we read one when we go to bed. We get our fast food spiritual fix.
I’m not saying there is anything wrong with Bible apps, devotionals, Christian radio, and other things. I love them! There are times in our lives when life hits us and we truly are swamped and have no extra time for anything else but a Bible Verse-a-Day. And that is OK. But for that to be our spiritual norm is not OK. If that is all you are eating spiritually then your spirituality is fast food.
This really is the norm right now for Christians. Spiritual fast food. I sometimes want to scream, "PUT THE PHONE DOWN AND READ YOUR BIBLE!"
Many years ago in an attempt to purposefully memorize well-known verses two friends and I started to compile them. We kept adding to it and it grew to 156 Scripture verses. You hear these same verses over and over on the radio and see them in devotionals. Great verses. But there is so much more to Scripture than just these well-known verses.
How long have you been a believer? 5 years? 20 years? Are you still stuck in that eat a hamburger-a-day mentality? Real spiritual growth comes from time spent feasting on God’s Word.
Hebrews 5:12-14 NLT (New Living Translation)
You have been believers so long now that you ought to be teaching others. Instead, you need someone to teach you again the basic things about God’s word. You are like babies who need milk and cannot eat solid food. For someone who lives on milk is still an infant and doesn’t know how to do what is right. Solid food is for those who are mature, who through training have the skill to recognize the difference between right and wrong.
Isaiah 55:2 NASB (New American Standard Bible)
“Why do you spend money for what is not bread, And your wages for what does not satisfy? Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good, And delight yourself in abundance."
Isaiah 55:2 The Message (a Paraphrase)
Why do you spend your money on junk food, your hard-earned cash on cotton candy? Listen to me, listen well: Eat only the best, fill yourself with only the finest.
Perhaps it is time to go for the steak, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, warm yeast rolls, and that big thick piece of chocolate cake - food that has real sustenance and will help you to become all that God has planned for you.
Open your Bible. Begin to be nourished.