O God, you are my God, earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you, my body longs for you, in a dry and weary land where there is no water… Because your love is better than life, my lips will glorify you. Psalm 63:1 & 3

Food: It matters what you put in your tank.

On Monday Josh and I went fishing on the Chesapeake with some friends. This was the second year in a row that we’ve done it. I don’t know if this qualifies as a tradition yet, but it sure was a lot of fun. We got up early and were in Ridge, MD by 6:05 AM. Captain Lou met us there and took the group out. We caught a few fish, got a sunburn, laughed a lot and ate lots of food.

So let’s talk about the food… Pam had baked us a pan of brownies for us to take along (the fudgie kind sprinkled with chocolate chips) and I threw some bottled water and a bag of Kettle style potato chips into the cooler. On the way down, I drank a large coffee, a Sheetz egg sandwich and a large jelly donut. Ditto for Josh, minus the coffee but add in an enormous apple fritter.

One of the guys had brought a couple of boxes of Popeye’s fried chicken (another tradition), spicy and mild. On the boat Josh ate 4 pieces spicy chicken, 5 brownies and demolished the majority of the bag of chips. I didn’t eat quite that much, but wasn’t far behind. We washed it all down with enormous quantities of Mountain Dew. We exited the boat at about 2:30 and drove home slugging down Arizona sweet tea. Upon arriving at home later that afternoon, we were convinced of 2 things.

• 1) a day of fishing is a lot of fun
• 2) it matters what you eat

When it comes to our bodies, most of us have figured it out. Nutrition matters. Not that we don’t have momentary lapses in judgment (see above), but our system requires a healthy diet to sustain optimal health. Stray too far and you pay the price.

It matters what you put in the tank.

So here’s an interesting question- what are you feeding your soul?

C. S. Lewis once wrote:

“A car is made to run on gasoline, and it would not run properly on anything else. Now God designed the human machine to run on Himself. He Himself is the fuel our spirits were designed to burn, or the food our spirits were designed to feed on. There is no other. That is why it is just no good asking God to make us happy in our own way…God cannot give us happiness and peace apart from Himself, because it is not there. There is no such thing.” ~Mere Christianity, pg. 54.

Are you feeling listless, uncentered, anxious or apathetic? Are you dissatisfied, ungrateful or unsettled? Are you striving for happiness or acceptance or peace but it always seems to elude you? These things among others are symptoms of a starving soul.

No amount of TV, amusement or religious performance will fill this void. The answer is not in a new car or your summer vacation or even the fulfillment of a life-long dream. A promotion or raise or radical change of setting will not fill this void.

You need God and God alone. He is the fuel for the human soul.

And so may you find in the Father all you need for today and tomorrow.