I live in a small town (about 9,000 in 2012). We have some big things in our small town- big love, big relationships, big community pride, and those kinds of cool things. As a small town, we also have small things; like a health food store. I had driven by the health food store a bunch of times but I've never stopped in to see what's in there. The year of "firsts" inspired me to stop in.
I was surprised at what they had. Of course, there were a lot of the gluten free and organic stuff in there. I'm not sure what gluten or organic is so I just pretended to be interested. I did not know they had organic meat in there. The nice lady also informed me that they teach a yoga class on Thursday nights. Who knew? You can order fresh, seasonal, organic produce each week. There is even a licensed herbalist available. Wow, a licensed herbalist here at our health food store; impressive.
Since I went in I decided that I would purchase something. I really did not want organic noodles or rice. A lot of it I was not sure about. Then, I saw peanut butter cups. Really?? Peanut butter cups in a health food store? Sign me up. I bought the regular and the mint flavor. Then I saw some real fruit spread (like jelly but has real fruit and sweetened with fruit juices; all natural ingredients) and I bought some of that; black cherry flavor. They also had some green tea which I've heard is really healthy. I've tried it a time or two and it doesn't taste very good. I know that's a bit whiny, but I like stuff that tastes good. This green tea was Moroccan mint green tea. That sounds tasty and healthy so I tried it as well. There were lots of other stuff I wanted to try, but I decided that was enough for today. It was a pretty cool "first."
I'm not sure all would be well if tried yoga.
I passed on the organic sauerkraut, not that there's anything wrong that; I would pass on regular sauerkraut, too
Yes sir!!
I just did not know you could improve the world one cup of tea at a time; pretty ambitious purpose statement.
Trying the green tea
Needs some sweetener; tasted much better after that. My cup may be cut out for coffee.
Healthy people
I do need to eat healthier. That was another good reason to go by the health food store. What you take in definitely affects your health. That is true for me spiritually as a follower of Jesus. What we take in (what we listen to, read, watch, etc.) affects us in ways probably deeper than we think. I know of some spiritual health food. 1 Peter 2:2 says, "like newborn babies, long for the pure milk of the word, so that by it you may grow in respect to salvation." The Bible is our spiritual health food. It is where we can find God's truth not just opinions of different people. I am convicted that I spend a lot of time watching stuff on TV (pretty good stuff I think; Duck Dynasty, Mountain Men, AGT, and waiting on college football), but not as much time studying the Bible. I do spend a good bit studying for sermons and things like that. As a pastor, that is my job. How much time do I spend reading just to get to know God better and become more like Jesus? That's pretty convicting to me.
It is not enough to just read; we also need to obey. I went in a health food store today, but I don't really think the peanut butter cups are going to help much. They are made with organic sugar and chocolate, but it is not like a plate of fruits and vegetables. There were a lot of healthier choices I could have made. Just because I eat something from the health food store does not mean I'll be healthier. Just because I read the Bible does not mean I grow closer to Jesus. Am I willing to obey what God says out of love? That's the real key. If I want to be healthy or more Christlike, it takes an intentional decision to do the things that will get me there. Now, about those peanut butter cups...
Tasting the abundant life
Barry
3 things I thank God for today
1. Blueberries
2. Strawberries
3. The hymn "Revive us Again"
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