There are all kinds of diets out there to choose from.  Just turn on the TV or open a magazine and you are presented with seemingly infinite alternatives, each purporting to be the diet that finally works, the diet to end all diets.  There are protein diets, diets that cut out carbs or sugar, diets that promise fast results, miraculous results, lasting results.  I just have to buy their products and follow their guidelines.

I personally think I would prefer the dessert diet, (all desserts-all the time) or my personal favorite, the comfort food diet.  Let’s face it, we don’t call it comfort food for nothing,  it tastes really good.  (I’m thinking of mac & cheese or mashed potatoes or milkshakes)  But we all have our own favorites.

It’s hard to choose a diet because the “experts” keep changing their minds about what is good for us and what is not so good.  Remember the original food pyramid? Apparently it is no longer.  It’s been revised, turned upside down, maybe even cast out in the clamor to be cutting edge and politically correct.  Who would have thought diets were involved with politics?

Super foods come and go like celebrities.  They are in today, out tomorrow.  What was bad for you is now good for you again.  Remember eggs?  Remember coffee? Remember butter and even (surprise) real sugar?  I think I just heard a recent report on the news that antioxidants aren’t all powerful, all magical after all.  Add antioxidant to any food label and you make it a must have.  (well until this most recent research becomes more well known).

Food sustains us, it keeps us alive.  But we demand more of our food than just sustenance, we want it to taste good, to make us healthy and strong, to give us energy for everyday and to help us live longer.  Food also binds us together in community as we break bread together.  We share our lives as we share a meal.

New “superfoods” are discovered almost daily it seems.  They promise to give us more energy, to make us feel better, to heal our diseases and to increase our life span.  To that end I think I have found the perfect food, soul food.  This food tastes good, is deeply satisfying, is totally nutritious, provides strength and energy for each day, heals my hurts and cures my infirmities, is completely sustaining and ultimately life giving.  All this and it’s low cal too.

No wonder Jesus said, “It is written: ‘Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’ ”  (Matthew 4:4)

Moses knew the sustaining power of God’s words.  He had received words from God on Mt. Sinai which he shared with his fellow Israelites, telling them, “They are not just idle words for you – they are your life.  By them you will live long in the land you are crossing the Jordan to possess.”  (Deuteronomy 32:47)

Proverbs 4:21-22 says of God’s words, “Do not let them out of your sight, keep them within your heart; for they are life to those who find them and health to a man’s whole body.”  (God’s word is health food!)

In Ezekiel 3:3 I read, “Then he said to me, ‘Son of man, eat this scroll I am giving you and fill your stomach with it.’  So I ate it, and it tasted as sweet as honey in my mouth.”   (good to know, I have a sweet tooth)  the scroll would have been full of God’s words, another reminder that God’s word can and does both fill and sustain me.

“When Your words came, I ate them; they were my joy and my heart’s delight, for I bear Your name, O Lord God Almighty.”  (Jeremiah 15:16)  talk about your “heart healthy” diet, I think this qualifies!

“How sweet are Your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth!”  (Psalm 119:103)  no wonder I love this “soul food diet”, me being a dessert girl and all . . .

“I have hidden Your word in my heart that I might not sin against you.”  (Psalm 119:11)   God’s word is the protection I need, it gives me the power to live pleasing to my Heavenly Father and guards my heart from attacks of the enemy.  (pun intended)

“For the word of God is living and active.  Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.”  (Hebrews 4:12)  this is good to know, I don’t want to be eating outdated, expired food.  But God’s word is always current, the “active ingredients” still viable today.  And talk about your detox diet.  Sounds like God’s word will surgically expose and remove what needs to go from my heart, keeping my heart healthy and not clogged up with hate, bitterness or other toxic things that would otherwise build up over time.

“All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.”  (2 Timothy 3:16-17)  “The statutes of the Lord are trustworthy, making wise the simple.”  (Psalm 19:7b)  God’s word is brain food!  It teaches and trains me and gives me wisdom.

“The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul.”  (Psalm 19:7)  God’s word is like an energy drink,  enabling me to finish this race we call life.

“The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God stands forever.”  (Isaiah 40:8)  “Your word, O Lord, is eternal; it stands firm in the heavens.”  (Psalm 119:89)  I don’t have to worry about famine or short supply with my “soul food diet”, it will always be available to me and will always fill me up.

Lord  you said, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.”  (Matthew 5:6)  My soul food diet does fill me up.  God’s words fill me with joy, with wisdom, with encouragement, with comfort, with peace, with hope, with healing, with health and ultimately with eternal life. Guess I’ll stick with a winner.

Again today I will “Taste and see that the Lord is good;”  (Psalm 34:8)  Won’t you join me, dear readers?  this soul food diet is the best one I’ve found yet; it tastes good and is good for me at the same time.  (Usually when something tastes really good I find out that it is equally bad for me, the relationship seems to be inversely proportional)

but not with the soul food diet.  God’s word is health food, it is brain food, it is energy food, it is comfort food, it is food for my soul.  It is heart healthy, good for detoxing and it increases my immunity, guarding my heart and my mind, by providing me protection from the deadly diseases carried by this world’s deceits.   God’s word is the fuel that sustains me in the furnace, the fuel that keeps me running in life’s race.  (reading God’s word is me carb loading for the marathon I run each day, so that I will “run and not grow weary” (Isaiah 40:31))  I think I’ll continue with my soul food diet.  It provides me everything I need in abundance.

“The eyes of all look to You, and You give them their food at the proper time.  You open Your hand and satisfy the desires of every living thing.”  (Psalm 145:15-16)

sincerely,          Grace Day