But He answered and said, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.’ ” Matthew 4:4
REFERENCE
Matthew 4:1-4
The phrase “You are what you eat” is a very popular parlance for promoting heathy diet and fitness. It means in order to stay fit and healthy you need to eat good food. This apparently also applies in the animal kingdom because eagles are known to be very agile and powerful birds because of their diet. Today, we continue our examination of the ways of the eagle.
#Lesson two: The eagle and their diet
The strength of eagles comes from their diet; they are very careful and selective about what they eat; although they have a voracious appetite, they only feed on freshly killed meat. They don’t eat anything that is dead; and can’t digest everything they eat including the fur of animals, and sometimes, bones. These ‘excess’ luggage can adversely affect them and impair their ability to fly freely, thus making them preys to other animals. Although they sometimes ingest these when eating a prey, the fur and sometimes, bones, form into a pellet that the eagle later regurgitates (vomits) from its system.
In the same manner, to be spiritually sound and fit as a Christian, you have to feed afresh on the Word of God, and equally watch what you eat. Jesus in our text said, “Man shall not only live on bread alone but on every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.” This shows that it is not a one-time event, you cannot be sustained by what you ate yesterday, but you need to live by the word that proceeds from God’s mouth every day of your life. So, have a voracious appetite for the Word and devour it.
Similarly, you have to watch what you expose yourself to; things you watch on TV or over the internet with corrupt influences can impair your ability to discern, and make you a clumsy Christian who then becomes easy prey to the enemy. There are three gates to your life – the eye gate, the ear gate and the mouth gate; watch what you look at, what are you listen to, and what you speak from your mouth. Like the eagle, you may not be able to stop yourself from ‘ingesting’ unwholesome pictures and information in the course of your day, but you must learn to discern – hold on to what is beneficial and ‘regurgitate’ out of your system anything that is destructive or polluting.
Eagles are selective in their diet for a reason – to remain fit and strong as kings of other birds. Be selective with your diet, change whatever diet slows you down and clogs up your spiritual senses, and be determined to increase your intake of whatever will make you gain flight as a sound and solid Christian. Remember, the word of God is food for champions; feed well on it, for you are what you eat!
SCRIPTURE PHOTO
ADDITIONAL STUDY
Psalms 141:3-4, Luke 6:43-45 (NIV), & I Peter 2:1-3
REFLECTION
+ How is your intake of God’s Word? Do you feed afresh every day or live on yesterday’s meal?
+ If you reviewed the things you watched, listened to and spoke out, what will they reveal? Are they things that corrupt your spirit or edify you?
PRAYER POINT
Pray for grace to make the necessary adjustment to your spiritual diet wherever you are deficient and need a change.
