Food for Spiritual Health (Matt 4:4)

“Man shall not live by bread alone,
but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.” (Matthew 4:4, ESV)

Over my lifetime, recommendations over the food we eat has changed dramatically. Egg yolks were once the worst alternative for a healthy diet. Health-conscious people felt that an egg white omelet was preferred over one with the yolk. Today this has been reversed due to the nutritional values contained in the yolk.

Once margarine was preferred over butter, believing that all animal-fat was bad and a vegetable-based substitute was better. However, today we understand that margarine’s hydrogenated oils, trans-fats, are actually worse for heart health than butter’s natural fats.

The list of this goes on and on. Things that were once believed to be healthy now have become the unhealthy alternative. Yet there is another source of food for health that has never changed. Here I am speaking about one’s spiritual health and the food is the word of God. There is only one food that will perfectly nourish the soul and every person needs to partake of it. It is the bread of life; the word of God found in the Bible.

Once we heard that Wonder Bread would “build bodies 12 ways,” because it was fortified with additives. Yet today we know that due to the additives, it is a less healthy alternative as compared to whole grain breads.

Our spiritual bread, the “bread of life,” is fortified to build people strong in the faith. Unlike the promises of Wonder Bread that was filled with additives, the “bread of life,” God word is pure, it is filled with one vital and perfectly healthy ingredient, the word of God.

The word of God is quite unique. While if one indulges to excess on earthly bread and food leading to health issues, the more one partakes of the “bread of life,” the stronger and healthier they become spiritually.

What is the moral of the story? It is to spend time in the Bible. Read it, study it, hear it preached, memorize it, and apply it in life. The Psalmist understood this stating, “How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth!” (Psalm 119:103, ESV)

None of us spend enough time in God’s word. I mean enough time in comparison to the time we spend in the things of this world. Perhaps it is not possible. But it is possible to fall in love with the word of God. The Bible is the word of a loving and almighty Father to us. Let us reconsider how much of this precious spiritual food we digest.