Don’t let me share in the delicacies of
those who do wrong. Psalm 141:4 NLT
She
was a junk food addict.
My
paternal grandmother loved junk—and didn’t mind sharing with her first-born
grandchild. When I was young, she fed me silver bells (Hershey Kisses) to keep
me quiet in church. She loved Little Debbie’s, pies, cakes, chocolate, and
candy. Anything sweet.
When
my grandmother was in her mid-eighties and confined to the nursing home, the
nurses fussed because my aunt brought her junk food. I told her to eat what she
wanted. At her age, it wasn’t going to make any difference. And she did until
the day she died.
My
grandmother’s example rubbed off on me. By the time I reached adolescence, I
had a healthy appetite for junk food. Canned chili and beans, frozen pizza,
Little Debbie’s, chocolate bars, silver bells, cakes, pies, candy. And my
favorite? Barbecue potato chips.
Along
about thirty-eight, my bad eating habits caught up with me. Not in health
problems, but in weight gain. I also worried about future health issues if I
didn’t change my eating habits. While I didn’t completely eliminate junk food
from my diet, I did cut back, and I also began an exercise regimen. But occasionally
… once a week on my cheat day … I still sit down with a bag of chips and a tall
glass of milk.
Evidently,
I’m not the only one who eats unhealthy or doesn’t exercise enough. According
to recent research, Americans are more obese than they’ve ever been. To the
tune of 100 million people (March 2018 http://www.grubstreet.com/2018/03/americas-obesity-rate-hits-record-high.html.
As
unhealthy as bad diets and low exercise rates are, something worse exists.
According to the psalmist, it’s the delicacies of the wicked. Bad spiritual
food. Crime. Stinking attitudes. Cursing. Anger. Unforgiveness. Selfishness.
Misplaced priorities. Unbelief.
Anything
that takes my interest away from loving God with all my heart and serving Him
with the same is spiritual junk food and damages my spiritual health. Just as I
had to take the initiative to curtail junk food from my diet and to exercise
for good health, I have to do the same with my spiritual diet.
No
one can force us to eat the right spiritual foods. Doing so is a choice we have
to make, but one with far-reaching effects.
Don’t
be a spiritual junk food addict. Digest the right stuff, and enjoy the life God
created you to have.
Prayer:
Father, hone our taste buds for the food that will satisfy our hunger presently
and eternally.
Tweetable: What kind of addict are you?
No comments:
Post a Comment