Chew Your Food: Advice for your Spiritual Life and for your Health

Chew your food.  That is so important.  I heard my parents say that to David and I so many times when we were young.  Sometimes when we are young, and we get hungry, we just stuff our faces with food instead of actually eating it.  Sometimes it becomes a competition - who can eat the fastest.  But you don't want to choke.  So you need to chew.

Let's break down the physiology first.

When you see food, or think about food, a couple of processes begin.  Salivation, being one of them.  Your body also begins to produce different enzymes.  When the food hits your mouth these enzymes are ready to go.  You have your salivary amylase for carbohydrate digestion.  A little bit of lingual lipase - that's for the fats.  Protein digestion doesn't hit full swing until you reach the stomach with the hydrochloric acid and various peptidases.  Are you still with me?  In plain and simple terms: when you chew your food you are able to release more nutrients and increase what your body can absorb for all of its functions and processes.

But all of these enzymes and substances can only do so much.  You have to chew; break down the food so the enzymes have a greater surface area to work with.  You have to break down the food so the enzymes can get to their target substrates.  You need to chew.

So it goes with our spiritual nourishment.  We can't just take what we're given at face value.  We have got to chew it.  To break it down.  To explore it.  We miss the full nourishment when we fail to explore, question and seek.

This is especially important when reading God's word.  Sometimes we only get bits and pieces.  We become picky eaters.  Or we take it in too quickly.  We open the book, simply read the words, and accept it at face value.  But if we don't chew - if we don't think or ask questions - we aren't really seeking.

What does chewing look like when you read scripture?  Prayer.  A lot of prayer.  Inviting God to speak to your heart through His word.  Asking the questions.  God wants you to seek His truth.  You are not any less faithful if you have some whys or what for's on your heart.  Give them up to God.  That is faithfulness.

We also need to chew non-scriptural things.  You've got Kiss FM on full blast - listening to Beyonce, Katy Perry, John Mayer, Adele.  Or you're reading a best-seller.  Maybe it's Twilight, maybe it's The Great Gatsby.  Simply because these things aren't inherently Christian or faith-based does not mean they have to be restricted or listening to or reading them makes you a bad Christian.  But you need to chew them up.  You have to seek and find if their is any spirituality present.  Look for what's missing, or what you didn't know could be found.  God can, and does often, permeate the secular.  As my pastor in Bloomington said, God can use even the most broken instruments for His glory.

You also have to determine what to take in moderation.  You have to determine your dietary restrictions.  Consider that there are some things that are toxic, and need to be cut out.  If you don't chew, anything has the potential to leave you with no nutritive value or do you harm.

Here is the big idea: when you don't chew you lose important nutrients that sustain you, keep you healthy and even make you stronger.

So chew.  Ask the questions.  As Christians we have to use our head and our hearts, and most of all, the guidance of the Holy Spirit, to make decisions and to build our lives in Christ.

~SP