Christian Snackers

As a girls’ basketball coach, I remember one game last season in which my best player was having difficulty making lay-ups and playing defense. When I pulled her out of the game and asked her what was wrong, she said she hadn’t eaten anything and was hungry. I quickly sent an assistant coach to purchase a candy bar and a sports drink for her. Once she ate the snack, she was able to come back in the second half and perform well for a few minutes. Before long, however, the hunger pains returned. The snack hadn’t been enough. When my player was hungry, I thought that giving her a convenient snack would satisfy her enough to make it through the game. What I didn’t consider, however, was that the quick fix was not enough to sustain her energy.

When I think about this situation, I think about how this relates to us as Christians. Many of us choose to go through life merely snacking in our relationships with Christ. We are “Christian snackers”—people who read an occasional Scripture, listen to a Christian song, or say a half-hearted, formatted prayer and think that we will be equipped for life in Christ. By taking in just a little spiritual content, we think we are equipped to endure our current test or trial. Eventually, though, if we participate in Christian snacking long enough we find that it isn’t enough, and that, if we want to be adequately prepared, we must have the meat of the Word and a solid relationship with Jesus.

The quick, sugary fix wasn’t enough for my player. She was unable to make it through the game because she consumed the energy too late, and it was nutritionally deficient. The better solution would have been for her to eat a solid meal before the game and develop a pattern of continual healthy eating. Today, I want to encourage you to get serious with your spiritual appetite. Feed it properly so that, through Him, when test and trials come, you will have enough faith, love, patience, etc. stored up to adequately pass the tests and trials.