Organic Soul Food

Organic food is the “in” thing these days. You see it everywhere. Whether it is carrots in the produce section of a large grocery store or potato chips at the health food store, all kinds of foods are labeled organic. Organic food is considered healthier because it has not been treated with chemical fertilizers or pesticides. Many people have made the choice to only eat organic food. They want the best for their family. They don’t want to add any foreign substance into their diet. It’s a good thing to want to improve one’s diet. Continually filling our bellies with food that has been treated with chemicals or altered from its original state as God created it is not a good thing.

We can choose to eat wholesome, organic food or unhealthy, processed food. Food that has been boiled, dried, minced, re-hydrated and shaped then packaged in plastic and cardboard in a pretty package. It is packaged so nicely and we are told about its convenience and value, so we buy it. We eat it. We think we are healthy because of it. Are we? After all the watering down, dehydrating and additions added, much of it has no nutritional value at all. What was once good and wholesome has now become useless, if not harmful.

We make the same choices about the words and pictures we expose ourselves to everyday. The words and pictures we fill our hearts and minds with can determine our spiritual health. Choosing whether we are going to see or hear something that is evil is usually an easy choice. It would be like choosing to eat a rotten egg or drink sour milk. An obvious decision.

What about things that are packaged in pretty packages and sold to us as being uplifting, inspiring and good for our souls? Are they good for our spiritual well-being? There are a lot of people out there writing books or making films that want to sell us their product. Some of these products are harmless enough but many can damage our heart and mind. They have taken truth and altered it just as processed food has taken good food and altered it. Some of these products have very little “nutritional” value to help sustain our hearts and minds. We devour the latest series of books with delight but our soul is left deprived. We watch the latest movie as the larger than life pictures fill our minds with unimaginable thoughts and ideas. We become bloated with the latest inspirational writings promising us a life of ease if we just follow their ideas for financial security or spiritual wellness. Our families will be happy if we will only do the 50 things to make our marriage work or 30 things every parent must say to their children or 100 places every parent must take their children.

All of this gives a feeling of spiritual fullness. We are comfortable. We are satisfied. But our soul is begging for proper nutrition. We have been feeding it twaddle — nothing to sustain us, just fill us up. Our hearts and minds, our souls need real nourishment. We need words and pictures that are authentic. We need to fill our minds with good things, real things — the organic word of God. We need to fill our minds with His words, His thoughts, His ideas so much that there is no room for the twaddle that normally consumes our time, our finances and our energy.

How do we determine if the words and pictures we hear and see are worthy of our consumption? Paul gave the Philippians a list to help them:

Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things. Philippians 4:8

True, noble, just, pure, lovely, good report, virtuous, praiseworthy — that’s quite a list. Before opening that book, before settling down to that TV show, before putting down your hard-earned money at that theater, before listening to that discussion consider this list. If it doesn’t fit with these guidelines, put it away. It will not nourish the soul. It will leave the soul dehydrated and starving for true nourishment. We must take charge of what goes into our soul. We must protect our family from the harmful, twaddle that is presented in such pretty packages. We must give our family and ourselves the real thing — organic soul food.