There are so many things we tend to rely on for sustenance as human beings living on earth. However, it is universally accepted that the top four things we cannot live without are air, water, food and warmth. Maslow categorized food, water and warmth as basic needs that are required—all other things are secondary to these. Maslow’s classification did not include air. Obviously, air is not an option to be selected but an absolute necessity that is beyond choice. I doubt anyone would disagree with this. Point is, we cannot live without air, and no one disputes this as even our bodies will not allow breath to be withheld from it. If you have tried to hold your breath for close to one minute, then you may have probably realized the value of air in your lungs. You see, you can bargain the other necessities of life, but not air. What do I mean by this? It’s simple: you can go a few or many days without food, water or warmth; however, you can’t treat air like that. Doing that is certainly fatal—such is the value of air!
Food is not as fundamental to life as air, yet it holds a place of great importance in any culture. In Ghana, for example, offering food to a stranger is not just an acknowledgement of its value in sustenance but also its role in hospitality—it’s a good step to build trust. In South Korea, food has a historical significance and asking someone “have you eaten?” is a common greeting. I am sure food is relevant in more than one way in your culture too. The fact is that over many centuries, man has increasingly become very dependent on food. Not that water and warmth are overlooked, No! In fact, water to a large extent can be considered as food, and its scarcity can be very deadly. Generally, food just seems to require more attention, that’s all. What I mean is this. With water, there seems to be an abundance of it all around us. Warmth comes and goes with the sun’s heat. Food is a little trickier because it can get scarce really quick and when the sun’s heat is out, we need clothing from food sources to keep warm. Hence, naturally, man relies heavily on food and puts more value on it. The simple fact is food is important!
So, there we have it. The two most important things in our lives are air and food. I find this very interesting for reasons I will try to explain in a few.
1. Man is a spirit.
If you are reading this and don’t identify as a Christian, bear with me for a bit. As I explained before, air is absolutely necessary for our survival as humans. Without air, we all agree that death is inevitable. Now let’s look at the nature of air. The easiest noticeable feature of air is its invisibility. You cannot see air, but you can feel it! When you breathe in or out, you cannot see what’s going in or coming out, but you definitely know something’s gone in. The air that rushes through your lungs vitalizes your body and gives you another second to do something else. Isn’t it amazing how just a little intake of air can prolong your life beyond a second? Or how life is directly tied to air? Have you spent time to deeply consider or appreciate this phenomenon? Or have you wondered why that’s even the case in the first place?
You see, the nature of a spirit is essentially like air. It is invisible: you cannot see with your naked eye, but you can feel its effects. Just as man cannot live without air, man cannot exist in the first place without his spirit. The spirit within you is the life force of your body and the air we breathe is a constant reminder of this. Take away a man’s spirit and the body is rendered lifeless. This is mirrored by the air we breathe. Take a man’s air away and he’s dead in minutes. You need to brace yourself for this next part.
If the spirit gives the body life, what gives the spirit life? Or better, if our spirit gives our bodies life, who gives life to our spirit?
2. The word of God feeds our spirits.
This is the main point of this post. You see, the answer to the question above is God. God is the eternal life force who pours vitality into our own revived spirits through his word. This may be hard to believe but it’s the truth. Earlier, we recognized the importance of food to our bodies. In its own way, food sustains life. As humans, we recognize this fact and make sure we are always fed. Our bodies are nourished, and we get strength from the food we eat to live and work. However, our physical relationship with food, is only a reminder of what our spiritual relationship with God and his word is supposed to be. I find it interesting how these clues are openly hidden all around us. It’s as if God in his infinite wisdom did not want to leave us ignorant of this. He buried the leads all around us so we can easily find them out with the right questions.
If food is important to our physical bodies, you best believe your spirit, which happens to be the real you needs food too. The only question that remains to be answered here is “how do you feed a spirit?”
Our bodies can feed on fruits and vegetables and other staples because they and the body are of the same composition—soil. Your spirit too can only be fed by something of the same composition—the word of God which is spiritual and makes the most impact on your spirit.
Today, if you happen to be reading this and your spirit is broken by depression or affected because of disease in your body, I encourage you to go to the word of God. Read the passages of the holy bible and allow the Holy Spirit to help you break it down.
Trust me, doing this will add so much vitality to your spirit, but it won’t stop there. Your body will be refreshed and energized as well to help you live life to its fullest!
Yes amen! 🙂 The Word of God has been blessing me and my soul these days.
Always happy to hear such testimony to the power of God’s word. May you do more exploits with God’s word Stephanie!
Awesome food is to body and spirit is to the word of God. Exactly!!!!! God bless you.