Scripture: Gaining Spiritual Weight

Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, now that you have tasted that the Lord is good.

1 Peter 2:2-3

My dad was my hero. I remember his strong muscular physique, and how I wanted to grow up to be exactly like him in every way.

I was puny—the classic ninety-seven-pound weakling. So as a young ten-year-old boy, I fell hook, line, and sinker for the “Charles Atlas” ads that promised all us little boys that we could be titans of toughness, gain those precious pounds, and never again have bigmouthed bullies kick sand on us. They could help make me strong, just like dad!

If someone wants to gain five pounds, he doesn’t eat five pounds of food and instantly register five pounds at the scales. Instead, he eats five pounds of food and incrementally gains an ounce or two. Then he eats another five pounds of food and gains another few ounces, and so on. Obviously, the energy needed for the daily press burns up most of our daily food intake.

When someone wants to gain spiritual weight, he doesn’t read five pounds of Bible and gain five pounds of spiritual weight. Rather, he studies the Scriptures for an hour or so and is fortunate to gain one or two spiritual insights to add to his spiritual weight.

Most of the five pounds of Bible we might devour during our personal devotions gets burned up on that day’s challenges or quickly forgotten, and we add only an ounce or two of new spiritual bulk.

The Scriptures are similar to the most delicious, well-balanced meal you have ever eaten, one you will often remember and hope to repeat—“now that you have tasted that the Lord is good.” What brings us back to the Lord’s table? We want to add to our spiritual weight. We want food that lasts, that adds precious ounces of spiritual wisdom and truth. We must consume much to retain little, so we come again and again each day. Do not fast from the Scriptures, or you will grow weak. Nourish your soul daily. Drink of the Word of God. Eat of it, and add weight to your beliefs.

We live in a Christianized age, but an age of spiritual malnutrition. We are heavyweights when it comes to spiritual talk, but desperately lightweight in our behavior. Have you unwittingly been on a spiritual fast? Are you weak from abstaining from “pure spiritual milk”? Have you made the error of thinking five pounds of Bible will add five pounds of spiritual weight?

If anything is true, it is that for our spirit and soul to grow we must drink daily from His cup and eat daily of His body. We must be regular—daily—in our intake of spiritual food. We need a balanced spiritual diet. Too much of one and too little of another will lead to spiritual malnutrition.

Do you want to be spiritually healthy? Do you want to “grow up in your salvation”? Then crave pure spiritual food; eat and drink of it. Desire the Word to nourish your soul more than food and drink for your body. “‘Do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink.…Is not life more important than food?’” (Matthew 6:25).

To gain an ounce of spiritual weight, you must take on five pounds of spiritual food. Most of what you consume will be burned up as spiritual energy for that day. Linger at the table, feasting on His pure food, consuming more than a day’s supply, and add an ounce or two to your spiritual weight. This is the prerequisite step to growing up in your salvation. Insufficient intake means insufficient growth.

Do you want to grow up to be like your Father? If you partake daily at His table, you will grow up to be like Him.

I SURRENDER

Dear Father, I yearn to add spiritual weight to my life. I have been living out of the reserves. I will spend more time consuming Your Word. Help me to linger at Your table. I will crave a balanced spiritual diet. I have tasted and know that the Lord is good. Amen.