Eating Well

I love seeing our hamster Niku enthusiastically dash out of his burrow during feeding time. There is so much pleasure watching him hold a treat between his tiny paws, chewing and chomping with zest. I know I’m not the only one who enjoys watching little animals nom; a booming business is built around animal feeding in zoos and farms. 

Parents whose young children eat well are blessed, as those with picky eaters might say. After all, eating is what we are naturally meant to do. It is when we stop feeding, that something is terribly amiss.

Eating disorders are widely known to have one of the highest mortality rates among mental illnesses. Without timely intervention and treatment, the body’s normal functions are deeply impaired. Energy wanes, immunity dips, the heart slows, and the sufferer eventually dies.  It would pain us deeply if our loved ones, or even our pets, refuse nourishment. I imagine it must pain God more, when we feed poorly or neglect to draw nourishment from the milk of His Word.

Perhaps a spiritual eating disorder is behind many of the struggles we Christians face today, showing itself through symptoms such as:

• Waning energy (decreasing motivation, drive, and interest in spiritual things and church matters)

• Diminished immunity (easily discouraged, unable to withstand tribulation, “carried about with every wind of doctrine," Ephesians 4:14)

  
  

In a physical eating disorder, the only medicine available is food. Spiritually, to recover from weakness, we also need the source of nourishment for our soul – the spiritual food Peter said we need for growth (1 Peter 2:2-3). He likens the Word of God to milk for a baby: it sustains life, and only through it can a child grow. 

Without spiritual food, a Christian can never grow, let alone bear fruit.  Jesus described how the lack of roots caused a plant to wither away when the “sun was up” (Matthew 13:6). Hosea attributed the destruction of God’s people to the “lack of knowledge” (Hosea 4:6).

The Word also helps to “build immunity.” Paul spoke of protection against “all the fiery darts” of the enemy through the shield of faith (Ephesians 6:16), and he calls the Word “the sword of the Spirit” (Ephesians 6:17).  Being rooted in the Word helps one endure tribulation and persecution (Matthew 13:21). When internalised, God’s Word becomes the guard that keeps us from “falling sick” easily, i.e. sinning (Psalm 119:11).  It protects us from the death that sin brings (James 1:15).

If our souls have been undernourished because we have not been consistently eating like we should, or if we are often feeling weak and defeated spiritually, a refeeding may be due. 

In my own journey, these are the things that have helped me and perhaps might help you too.

1) Start small, chew slow.

The key is to make “eating” doable and sustainable. Chewing and meditating deeply on a few verses a day might benefit us more than hurriedly skimming through a few chapters.  Pen-and-paper Scripture copying has helped me most when it comes to “chewing.”  It forces me to slow down and spend more time on each word than I normally would have by reading alone.  Often it is when I chew slowly and mindfully that I discover the depth and richness of His Word.  Isn’t that why we teach our children to chew when they eat? Digestion and absorption of nutrients is optimal when we take effort to chew instead of hastily swallowing food whole. After all, unchewed food mostly gets passed out without much benefit.

2) Find a buddy. 

Having someone to account to helps to keep me going. Being able to share insights and “light-bulb moments” with someone makes learning more exciting.

3) Reduce junk food. 

If, each day, we habitually decide to fill our minds with junk from the world (unwholesome media, materialism, worldly influences), is it any wonder that we lose our appetite for the pure Word our soul needs? Mothers with younger children can attest to how junk food affects the little ones’ appetite for wholesome food. We need to be mindful of what we feed our minds with and how we spend our time.

4) Understand and accept that we may like different foods. 

For most people, there will be some cuisines we cannot appreciate and some we have a soft spot for. Like how we encourage our children to eat a variety of food, we need to allow ourselves a variety of nutrients.  So long as it is grounded in the truth, we should try to appreciate the different “styles of cooking” from “chefs” who feed us, and “esteem them very highly in love for their work’s sake” (1 Thessalonians 5:13).

It takes deliberate effort and time, but recovery from an eating disorder is possible. With care, our bodies can heal, be strengthened, and grow, thankfully. After we taste that the Lord is gracious (1 Peter 2:3), we may, like the psalmist, be able to declare, “How I love thy law!  It is my meditation all the day” (Psalm 119:97), and, just like Niku, we can’t wait for the next feeding time!