Spiritual Fitness
It is written, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.” – Matthew 4:4.
He who has ears to hear, let him hear! – Matthew 11:16; Matthew 13:9.
Then the righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears to hear, let him hear! – Matthew 13:43.
For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables. – 2 Timothy 4:3-4.
We read the words and we hear the words but do we really listen? Repeatedly, in the New Testament Jesus challenges us to use our ears to listen. If we are really listening then we will apply the words to our lives. In the case of Matthew 4:4 it would mean the intake of God’s Word just as frequently as we have our meals. I think we can agree we should read, study, and meditate on the Scriptures at least once a day. But do we do it?
Why would we want to give up our time and spend it in the Scriptures? If we do not eat physical food what happens? We grow weak physically. If we do not have our spiritual food, we will grow weak spiritually. When we grow weak physically we become susceptible to all kinds of physical ailments, and diseases. When we grow weak spiritually we become susceptible to the attacks of the devil, the allurements of the world, and the lust of the flesh.
Having a quiet time in which we spend time reading the Bible and praying is much like physical exercise. The time spent in physical exercise is returned to us in the need for less sleep, increased capacity for action, and a better overall quality of life. In much the same way, God provides the energy we need to seek Him. Time spent in prayer and reading the Bible is not time lost. Instead it seems to generate its own time with more energy and better quality of life.
We are now living in a world that has completely changed because of technology from what it was like only fifteen years ago. We now have worldwide access to the Internet, and billions of people who have cell phones. Every month there are new advances in technology that affect our personal lives. Along with all of this technology moral pressures have come which will destroy those who are not spiritually fit. The only way to be spiritually fit is to have a daily quiet time which includes reading, studying, and meditating upon the Scriptures and which also includes a meaningful time of prayer.
Do you currently have a daily quiet time? Before it is too late, please commit yourself to doing so. You need to make that commitment because if you are not spiritually fit there will come a time when you will not “endure sound doctrine,” and you will turn your “ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables.”
(There are grave consequences for the failure to stay spiritually fit.)