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"Just as the Living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me" (John 6:57). I am typical of most Americans, overweight. Before you read any further, if you suffer from Dunlap disease too, please note I am not making fun of you. Let's face it, many Americans are overweight and the most prevalent disease in America is Dunlap. What is Dunlaps? Look at your stomach, do you see your belt? If you answered no, then your belly dun lapped over your belt. I want to talk about diet here this morning for a moment. While it is important to eat low fat food and exercise regularly, I don't want to focus on physical food. You see, the opposite happens in the spiritual realm. Let me explain, when we eat to much physically we get fat. But in the spiritual realm the opposite is usually the case. The problem is not robust spirituality, the problem is an emaciated faith. Prayer, fasting, giving, reading the Word, solitude are spiritual disciplines that we need to incorporate into our lives. The problem with calling these practices disciplines is that some get hung up on ritual and miss the moment with their Master. So, just like our New Year's resolutions to shed the pounds, we quit being regular with God and practice a sporadic, go to Jesus when you need something spirituality. Jesus wants us to feed on Him. I think this feeding he envisions is a daily, moment by moment feeding. We need to spend time with God everyday, not so we can pretend to have our lives in order, but so in our brokenness God can make sense of our chaos. We can't not expect to minister to others if we haven't spent time with Jesus. The church by and large is composed of emaciated Christians starving spiritually, wanting desperately to be filled with the goodness of God but not willing to take the time or effort to get this inner quenching. Our world has spoiled us in that we are used to getting everything now. Spiritual needs are not met with a drive thru mentality. Our challenge as the people of God is to let the Words of Jesus wash over us, we need to digest His Word, and pursue Him with reckless abandon. Eating Twinkies day after day, and then walking on a treadmill occasionally won't help in your battle with the bulge. Going through the motions spiritually, and only looking at the Bible on Sunday won't help you with your spiritual hunger. Snickers may satisfy, but what we need is regular time with Jesus in prayer and His Word and then and only then we will begin to put meat on our frail spirits.
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