Diets are important. What we consume is what fuels us. We will either be productive or we won’t. We will lie in bed for the day or we will get up and get working. Jesus referred to himself as both the bread of life and the living water. He is the vine; we are the branches. The branches cannot live without the vine.
So what is our steady diet? Are we feeding on Jesus every day? Do we have a steady diet of scripture or do we consume junk “food?” Paul had this to say to Timothy: “I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom: preach the word; be ready in season and out of season” (2 Timothy 4:1-2 ESV). Paul told Timothy in an earlier letter to immerse himself in the scriptures: “Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation, to teaching. . . Practice these things, immerse yourself in them, so that all may see your progress. . . Persist in this, for by so doing you will save both yourself and your hearers” (1 Timothy 4:13, 15, 16).
Paul prescribed Timothy a steady diet of the Scriptures. He wasn’t just to read Scripture, he was to practice them. This was a daily discipline. Christians weren’t to “find time;” living the Scriptures was their time. Everything they lived and breathed was to be rooted in the Word. Practice doesn’t make perfect, but it sure does mean improvement.
Living on a steady diet of the Word requires a plan. It requires us to think through how we become productive. It’s a vital part of being Christian. Living the Word daily is important to our salvation.
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