A Balanced Diet

   For most of my life I hated vegetables. Even when I would get into one of my "Men's Health" type diets and would work out a lot, I never consumed many greens. I would consume a lot of lean quasi-meats and wash those down with some harsh whey protein shakes. But after a 40-day trial health make-over, I am now addicted to veggies. And not just your grandma's sweet corn or potatoes. I love the dark, rich cruciferous kind - kale, collard greens, spinach, and broccoli. My mouth even waters at the vibrant colors of the earth's cheerful peppers - red, yellow, and green bell peppers, jalapenos, and habaneros. Ah, I can almost taste the flavonoids now...
   But I am still perplexed at those who remove meat from their diet altogether. Medical disagreements aside, it's simply not balanced historically, nor do those I know who practice it seem to be benefitting from it. I observe some vegans and vegeterians to be nearly anemic, and the majority ironically appear to be overweight. I say all of this to make the cliche overstatement that at the end of the day it still seems what we need most is a "balanced diet."
 
   And the same is true spiritually.
 
   1st Peter urges new believers, "Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation." Paul while writing to the Hebrews and the Corinthians revealed his desire to give them meat, but in light of their immaturity in the Lord, could only give them milk. The truth is, depending on our upbringing, our maturity in the Lord, our present circumstances and so forth, each of us as God's children need different food at different times.
   I have talked to two people this week struggling a little bit in their walk with God. No one ever has the perfect perspective, but as I talked to these two individuals, both of whom passionately pursue God and possess humble and sincere hearts before the Lord, I noticed a common denominator. I pointed out to them that their diet might be a little skewed. Most believers in America from what I observe tend to have very shallow pools from which they drink. They read whoever is popular, funny, and uplifting at the time. Many times the theology is off and there is very little if any conviction of sin or urging to explore the deeper depths of God. And yet the books sell and the podcasts take off. Tozer lamented the spiritual shallowness of the books of his day fifty years ago, calling for the reading of the majestic and glorious works of old. God knows what he would say of most of what we have out today, though some gems do shine here and there. Paul warned Timothy that in the last days men would heap up for themselves teachers who would tell them what they wanted to hear. And we lack for nothing in that area.
   But this was not the problem with these two individuals. These two want no easy answers, no pats on the back, and no broad road. They have an insatiable hunger for truth and God's Word and they listened constantly to men who would not let them off easy either. But by constantly only reading after and listening to those kind of men, combined with the fact that they both have over-analytical and self-scrutinizing personalities to begin with - they were beginning to become discouraged. And so I suggested a change of diet. I suggested a break from listening to and reading after some of the men I admire most. I reminded them that Paul said to "consider both the kindness and severity of the Lord." I told them they might be part of the 2% of the American Christian population who spends a lot of time considering the severity, but it might be nourishment to their souls to spend a few months meditating on His kindness. We can't survive off all sugar, but we can't survive off all veggies either. A lot of us could probably use a little more meat, and some of us should obey the book of Proverbs and let ourselves "have a little honey."
   Maybe you tend to lean toward the hyper-spiritual and need some balancing wisdom of John Bevere in your life, or perhaps some of the practical insight of Andy Stanley. Maybe your theological pillars are a little lean. If so, most would say you'd be hard-pressed to find a better building station than the sturdy foundation of the Puritans. Maybe you need some fresh fire to drive out the coldness and bring you to your knees. Ravenhill will do that. Paul Washer will break you and mold you and build you. Maybe you need some anointed refreshing - Jim Cymbala and A.W. Tozer's works are an oasis for me. Maybe you constantly feed on sugar - Francis Chan, John Piper, and Mark Driscol can bring meat today. Or you could mine yesteryear's works of Spurgeon, Finney, Torrey, Wesley, and thousands of others.
   I am not trying to build these heroes up or leave other great men of God out. Nor am I saying it's these men who do it - it is the Holy Spirit working through them. Nor should they ever be our foundation. Jesus Christ alone is our foundation and His Holy Word should be our first starting point and building block. I only point all of this out because as we branch out and allow God to use others to speak to and edify us, let's remember that God has specifically placed different parts of His Body in different places to accomplish different things. And let's remember that at times we might need more meat, and at times we might need more veggies, and sometimes we need some dessert. Let's rightly divide the Word of God. Let's consider both His kindness and severity, Let's watch both our lives and our doctrine. Let's remember the importance of Mary and Martha. Let's strive for a balanced diet.

David's Study Tips

   At times I have imagined being a fly on the wall in Dr. Tozer's study. Watching him get up from the tear-stained rug. The one he would lie on facedown for hours to worship. Watching him walk with purpose to his desk, surrounded with books by giants of the past, like the Hebrew writer surrounded by the very cloud of witnesses themselves. To watch him apply his exegesis to the sacred Scriptures, tender, careful, and eager.
   I have wondered how Spurgeon mined his text, how Ravenhill dug for his treasures. There are many wonderful and beneficial methods and principles in studying Scripture. We must always study the context. We must, when we come across some dark and obscure passage, remember to interpret scripture by scripture. Isolating a text leads to confusion and eventually to heresy. We must study exegetically, as free from bias and prejudices as possible. These are all important. But there are a couple tips from David the Psalmist that might be more important than any others. They are not as practical as they are spiritual. But we would do well to remember them:
   Study Tip #1:  We must hunger for His Word. Jesus said "Blessed are those that hunger..." and surely that applies as well to our daily bread from the mouth of God. Have you ever seen a dog extremely hungry? Panting hard? This verse stalled me yesterday: "I opened my mouth and panted, For I longed for Your commandments." Is that our posture? In a world filled with information but perishing for lack of true knowledge and spiritual voice, are we looking to God with open hands and open mouths for our portion? Longing for just one Word from the other side? One piercing insight for our soul? One morsel from His Presence? To the casual peruser of pages He has not much to say. But to the hungry and panting, He has volumes of revelation to unfold. Let us cry out anew for a fresh hunger for the Eternal Word.
   Study Tip #2: We must approach His Word with humility. David said that "He leads the humble in what is right, and teaches the humble His way." There have been seminary graduates with more degrees than a thermometer confounded by simple men and women with genuine faith who had unique understanding of the text. "For He has chosen the foolish to confound the wise..." Higher learning is a noble calling and there is nothing wrong with seminary, but the danger exists in the truth of Paul's warning that "knowledge puffs up..." It's impossible to receive fullness of His Word in our hearts with full heads. God is repulsed by it. James plainly states that "God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble." If we want the grace of the Spirit to reveal God's Word  to our hearts, we need to remember our need of His Spirit and our dependence on His grace to understand. We should approach His Word with humility, remembering that "This is the one on whom I look; the one who trembles at My Word." If we come to the Bible to re-affirm our own position, feed our ego, win an argument, justify a lifestyle choice, or stuff our intellect, we will leave with facts and shells, but no meat. No spiritual food. No enlightenment. May we approach on our knees, saying like Samuel, "Speak, Lord, for Your servant is listening."
   Obviously there are many things that go into careful study, but let us not complicate things. First and foremost, let our lives and our approach to Scripture be characterized by hunger and humility. Lord, open our eyes to see treasure. After all, as the disciples said, "Where else, Lord, can we turn? Who else holds the words of life?"