WHAT HAVE YOU BEEN EATING LATELY?
David Register / May 22, 2022
There once was a miserly farmer who was always trying to save money. One day he decided to add a little sawdust to the donkey’s feed to make it go a little further. The donkey didn’t seem to notice and ate it up. The next day he added a little more sawdust to the feed and the donkey quickly ate it all. He continued increasing the amount of sawdust in the donkey’s feed every day. Because the process was gradual, the donkey didn’t notice any difference as he cleaned up the feed daily. The plan was working well until… the donkey suddenly died of malnutrition. The farmer learned the donkey couldn’t live on sawdust. He learned a valuable lesson, but too late.
Similarly, spiritual food that contains the pure word of God is very nourishing for a Christian. But once His word is mixed with worldly sawdust (a social or watered-down gospel), it is no longer pure and will lead to spiritual sickness and eventually to spiritual death (2 Peter 2). Romans 8: 6-8 tells us: "6 For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. 7 Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be. 8 So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God."
It is indeed sad when Christians become spiritually malnourished and eventually succumb to the world. If there is any sawdust in our spiritual diet, we need to dump that contaminated food and once again begin feeding on the pure milk of God’s word. 1 Peter 2:2: "2 as newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby".
And as we grow and begin to build back our spiritual strength, we must move on to the strong food of the Word. Hebrews 5:14: "13 For everyone who partakes only of milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, for he is a babe. 14 But solid food belongs to those who are of full age, that is, those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil."
We should continue to consume the entire word of God before we learn a valuable lesson too late. Let’s all grow into spiritually mature workers for the Lord and His church. 2 Peter 3:18: "18 but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory both now and forever. Amen."
