Good morning and welcome in everybody. Today we are going to take a look at a passage of scripture, but before we do that, I wanted to tell you a little story.
Have you ever started your own diet? We live in a day and age where people tend to track and monitor their caloric intake. Although there are many of us old fashioned people who still keep notebooks, some people wear watches on their wrist so they can enter the number of calories that they eat. At times, I tend not to be overly concerned about what I eat. Because of this, I might eat an extra 500 calories here or a little extra there, which continually adds up over a few years. My wife had said that I can gain and lose weight faster than any person she has ever known. At times I can be like a bear who is slowly preparing for a long hibernation. In the last 25 years, I have lost over 150 lb on three different occasions, and I’m going to do it again. Losing weight is really not that difficult. All it requires is getting yourself on the proper regimen, doing some exercise and making sure you keep track of what and how much you eat. In the grand scheme of things, bodily exercise profits us little. This is because no matter how much you work out, it’s not going to save your eternal soul. But if you choose to diet, you need to keep focused on what you consume, and keep on a steady diet of the right foods.
This reminds me of the Christian Life.
Well, this is also true of our spiritual life with God. We must have a steady diet of scripture, each and every day, putting the good things of God’s Word deep inside of our hearts. This is so we can become strengthened, grow into maturity, and keep in shape spiritually. Unlike our physical bodies, when it comes to filling up on God’s Word, we can eat as many calories as we want!
1 Peter 2. ² As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby: ³ If so be ye have tasted that the Lord is gracious.
A regimen is defined as a regular course of action, especially strenuous training. The Lord Jesus taught us to strive to enter in at the straight gate. To strive means to put forth a strong effort to obtain something. Like people train their bodies, we must train our hearts to become faithful and loyal to the teachings of scripture. To train we must undergo discipline and instruction. Without these qualities, you are not going to get very far. Many people train each day to be able to compete in the Olympics. The Christian Life requires training if we want to inherit eternal life. If you want to get in shape Spiritually, we must allow ourselves to go through the discipline and instruction found in God’s Holy Word.
2 Timothy 3 ¹⁶ All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: ¹⁷ That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.
Just as somebody would receive instruction from a workout instructor, we must submit ourselves to God, and His instructions found in scripture.
“Take fast hold of instruction; let her not go: keep her; for she is thy life.”
— Proverbs 4:13
“Buy the truth, and sell it not; also wisdom, and instruction, and understanding.”
— Proverbs 23:23
Many times people wake up in the morning, and do not want to engage themselves in a workout routine. They are completely disinterested in doing certain exercises. It might be very hard for them to start an upper body workout, but in order to succeed at training your body, you are going to need to do the things that need to be done. It’s a matter of submitting yourself to the workout routine that has been placed in front of you. At times it can be difficult, but if you want to achieve your goals, you must follow the program every day. Some people who profess Christianity do the same thing. They only want to do a couple things found in scripture, and then skip the rest, but if you truly want to inherit eternal life, you must train yourself to become obedient to God by submitting to His perfect will.
1 John 2 ¹⁶ For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. ¹⁷ And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.
“Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.”
— Matthew 7:21
Just like dieting each day, maintaining a good diet in God’s Word is crucial to obtaining paradise in the future.
“But exhort one another daily, while it is called To day; lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.”
— Hebrews 3:13
A physical diet might require you to reach for an apple instead of potato chips. You might need to eat a cucumber sandwich instead of a pizza. As a Christian, we also will need to cut things out of our lives. Instead of being focused on the things of the world, we need to refocus our minds on the things of God. This is part of the process of becoming spiritually fit. We must turn away from the things that are not a part of the Christian diet. This includes things that go in contravention to the will of God. Like turning away from certain foods, we must turn away from sin, and maintain a strict diet of God’s truth.
“But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light:”
— 1 Peter 2:9,
“Take heed unto thyself, and unto the doctrine; continue in them: for in doing this thou shalt both save thyself, and them that hear thee.”
— 1 Timothy 4:16
If you stay on your diet, you are eventually going to reach your goal, but it’s going to require diligence and paying close attention to the things that you eat. To obtain eternal life, we have to maintain a steady diet of biblical truth, abiding in God’s training program, so that we can eventually reach the goal of eternal life. Like cutting things out of your Earthly diet, we will have to completely abstain from sinful living. Like training our muscles, we must train our hearts to serve and obey the will of God, only then can we shed the heavy weight of sin in our lives, and someday obtain eternal life.
Are you sticking to God’s program? Are you keeping focused on your…..
…….Heavenly Diet
Let’s think about these things for right now. We can be found on your web browser by searching, tlkjbc where you can find our diaries distributed through various platforms. We are not associated, nor affiliated with any other religious groups. You can get our entire podcast feeds directly, along with transcripts at tlkjbc.com or I suppose that you could find us somewhere up here, in the Great Northern Minnesota woods. Peace to you, and Lord willing, we will talk with you some more tomorrow. Till then, bye bye everybody. ❤️
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Teufer Lake King James Bible Church 