Monday, January 21, 2013

Nourish!


Nouržish: to promote the growth of; feed, maintain, support

I've been thinking about this word for a couple of weeks now after we had one of those long soaking rains. We have been in a drought for several months now and the ground is dry and cracked. A quick downpour would not solve the problem, no matter how many inches came down. The ground needs moisture delivered to it in a slow and steady manner. It needs time to allow the moisture to soak in and nourish all the plants affected.

How about us? We need nourishment as well. Our bodies need nourishment. Our souls and spirits need nourishment also. How are we going about administering that nourishment? In this fast paced world that we live in, I daresay most of the time we administer nourishment in quick downpours. Unfortunately, much of it runs off and never sinks in, thus, providing little, if any nourishment.

To truly receive benefits from the nourishment we administer, we need to pay attention to two things: substance and time. A clean pure rain falling in a quick downpour loses much of its nourishing qualities because it reaches the ground too quickly and runs off. A long soaking acid rain is also detrimental due to the substance contained in the moisture.

The same goes for nourishing our bodies, souls, and spirits. Fast food is not known to be the most nourishing. Neither is a quick pep talk or hurried Bible reading just to check it off the list and move on to something else. The average American day lacks margin. We fill up every hour and then fall into bed for a short night’s sleep only to start all over again. Unfortunately, we are teaching our children the same thing. We not only need a good night’s rest, but we need periods of time throughout our day that are peaceful and meditative. Psalm 46:10 says, "Cease striving, and know that I am God". Other translations say, “Be still and know that I am God”. Not only do we need to make time to be still and meditative, but it's important to pay attention to what we're using to feed our bodies, spirits and souls. That's the substance part. The expression “you are what you eat”, can be extended to say you are what you watch and hear. If during our relaxing times we fill our heads with violent games, scary movies and the like, are we truly nourishing? The definition of nourish is to promote the growth of. When we feed our mind and spirit with negative thoughts or actions, what are we promoting the growth of?

I've stated it before but it's worth mentioning again, in Philippians 4:8 we are told, "whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable, if anything is excellent or praiseworthy, think about these things." When we do this, we refocus our mind on things that truly nourish our soul and spirit. It provides rest and prepares us for the next mountain to climb. Think about these things when you’re sinking your teeth into your next fast food sandwich J