An excerpt from Jack Deer in his book, Surprised by the Voice of God :
“
I grew up loving sports. I was so active physically, I never had to be concerned about my diet. Then I graduated from college, went to seminary, got married, and started a family. With all those responsibilities, my athletic activity slowed down—and so did my metabolism. I began the battle of the bulge. Over the years, through various diets, I lost hundreds of pounds. Of course, I managed to find them again, every one of them, and a few new ones as soon as I got off the diet. Occasionally I mixed regular periods of exercise with the diets and got better results, but none lasted.
About two years ago I threw away all the diets that promised quick fixed and started eating foods low in fat. My tastes have now changed. I actually prefer low-fat foods to the fatty stuff I used to eat. I don’t go on diets any more, and I never go hungry. I have found a lifestyle I can live with day in and day out.
I also started an exercise program with a good friend of mine, Benny and I meet at a local gym three to five times a week to work out with weights and do some aerobic activity. The result of all this is that I‘m in better physical condition now than when I was in high school or college.
When I first started a low-fat diet and exercise program, I didn’t notice much change in my physical appearance or in my health. Actually, it was about three months before I noticed any significant difference. After nine months though, the difference was dramatic.
I learned a very important lesson through all this. One workout doesn’t change you, and diets you can’t live with day after day aren’t going to help you either. It is the repeated workouts over a period of months, even years, that dramatically change you.
The same is true with the Bible. A little Bible reading won’t really change you. It is the daily meditation, month after month, year after year, that changes you. Reading the Bible is very much like eating food. Food is fuel for the body, but without exercise, it can’t be used to build up and repair the body. In the same way, the Bible is fuel for the soul, but without exercise, the soul will shrink into a weakened state, just as our muscles do without exercise.
The first step to spiritual health is taking the right fuel day after day. The second step is using the fuel to make right, often hard, choices every day. Over several years, obeying the Bible, not simply reading it, produces Christ-like character. Quick fixes don’t exist in the spiritual realm any more than they do in the natural realm.
(pages 105-106)
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