BY GREG CRUM

“As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby: If so be ye have tasted that the Lord is gracious.” II Peter 2:2-3

The Word of God is food for the spirit of man, and what’s the primary function of food? For us to tickle our tastebuds?! No. Despite the joyous side effect of so many foods tasting great, pleasure isn’t the primary function of food!

The first and most important purpose of food is so that the physical body has all the nutrients that it needs to grow and/or maintain its health. Here in 2 Peter, we are told that the Scriptures are like milk and their purpose, just like that baby’s milk, is to help grow the spirits of men and women big and strong!

The last couple of weeks we have written of the importance of spiritual fitness. While all of us have heard of physical fitness, and some even strive to be physically fit, not many today have a good understanding of the need for spiritual fitness in their lives. We just amble through life, thinking that if we are “born again” everything else will take care of itself, and there’s nothing else for us to do except maybe go to church every now and then.

Well, being “born again” is the most important step toward anyone’s spiritual fitness, but there is so much more for us to do to get and maintain our spiritual health once we do get “saved.” There is a natural aspect to this life, and we need to give some attention to our physical and mental wellness, but much more we need to give heed to the condition of our spirits and work to be as “fit” as we can be in this area of our being!

So, how do we go about accomplishing this task of spiritual fitness? Well, there’s a mindset that we need. We have to be aware that spiritual fitness is a “thing,” and that it’s our spiritual obligation to get and stay as spiritually fit as we can in this life. But beyond the mental, there’s some practical application that we must employ if we are to achieve spiritual fitness.

Last week we left off by drawing your attention to the parallel between physical and spiritual fitness, and how the physical helps us to understand the necessary steps to take to be fit in the spirit. In the natural, to get and stay fit we must eat right, exercise, and get plenty of good rest. It’s the same in the realm of the spirit! To be spiritually fit, we must “eat right,” “exercise,” and get plenty of “rest.”

Now, right off the bat, I know that you can see that this eating, exercise, and rest aren’t exactly the same as the eating, exercise, and rest we get in the natural. After all, we don’t literally chew on a physical substance to feed our spirits! With that said, there are parallels, and by following the pattern set in the natural we can grow in our inward man.

First, let’s look at “eating right” spiritually. This is maybe the most important step because unless you have a balanced spiritual diet, you’ll remain a spiritual infant. As referenced in 2 Peter 2, as well as in Hebrews 5:12-14, the Scriptures are food for the spirit of man. It’s God’s Word that will grow us as we read that Word and think about what it means and how it best applies to our lives. Matthew 4:4 tells us that the Word of God is our daily bread, spiritually speaking, and to be fit spiritually, we are going to need to consume it daily.

So many Christians go around feeling weak and defeated, overwhelmed by the weight of their personal problems and the greater issues facing us in this world, but so many of these same Christians are half-starved. No wonder they feel so weak! They get one or two “meals” a month when they choose to show up for a Sunday service at their local church.

Friends, think about it. Could you make it physically on one or two meals a month? Of course not! Even if you could, you’d drag around like a corpse! Why would you think you could make it spiritually on one or two meals a month and still be spiritually healthy?

Don’t starve out your spirit man—feed on the Scriptures every day and provide your spirit with the food God intended for it to thrive on!

(Greg Crum is the pastor of Calvary Temple Church.)