Candy Coated Christianity

According to AOL news, a man in Liverpool England has survived for 17 years on Mars bars. Not the ‘Red Planet’ but the chocolate kind. Keith Sorrell, 37 years old, eats around a dozen of the candy bars a day (more on weekends!). His diet consists of Mars bars, a good deal of orange juice & vitamins. Surprisingly, Sorrell is somewhat healthy, to the surprise of nutritionist. Over a time they predict the unusual diet will probably take a toll on his body. While he gets adequate vitamin C, calcium & protein, they are concerned with the lack of fiber. He is a high risk of heart disease, cancer & bowel troubles.

While many of us would enjoy a sweet diet like Sorrell for a short time, it doesn’t take a nutritionist to know it can’t be good for the long haul. In much the same way, many of us have a similar spiritual diet. It’s really easy to kick back & let a church service, TV program, or occasional bible reading feed us spiritually. Things are fine as long as things are fine. When life pulls out the stops & the Devil unloads on us, that spiritual diet just won’t quite keep us spiritually healthy.

My son’s cat recently had kittens. Two of four kittens survived & the cat took pains in nurturing & protecting her little family. In a strange twist of fate, my wife & some fellow workers at school found a nest of kittens in the attic of the school. Two of the kittens had fallen into the walls where they had to be extracted. No mother cat was in site. My wife brought one of the kittens home, while a teacher took home another. Our cat accepted the new addition & the little guy joined his newly adopted family in taking in milk!

Just as this little kitten needed the life giving milk, we need the ‘pure milk’ of God’s Word. The Apostle Peter challenged, “Like newborn babies, you must crave pure spiritual milk so that you will grow into a full experience of salvation. Cry out for this nourishment, now that you have had a taste of the Lord’s kindness.” I Pet. 2:2-3 NLT

After a time we, just like the little kittens, must move on from milk. The Apostle Paul challenged the church at Corinth that they should move on to maturity. He chided that he had to feed them a milk diet because they couldn’t handle solid food.

My prayer for each of us is that we have a diet more solid than Mars bars. Get into God’s Word daily to face the challenges of the day!

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Dave Jackson-Campus Minister djackson@absc.org cell 870-217-9376