This year is our year. A common phrase heard in the sports world. Hard work, hours of training and studying to hopefully achieve perfection. Eat the right foods to sustain a high level of performance on the field. Lift weights to increase strength. Get enough sleep. All in the hopes of having the best year yet.

As competitors, our lives are marked by a voraciously competitive spirit. We want to be the best athlete, the winningest coach or part of the perfect team. We discipline our minds and bodies to attain the highest level of performance, all in an effort to feed this insatiable appetite for competition.

As believers, we should carry this same deep desire to satisfy our competitive cravings into nourishing our souls. We hunger and thirst for a “win,” but what about our relationship with Jesus? In our soul training, do we allow ourselves to snack on God-substitutes or use anything other than Jesus as our primary source of meaning, self-worth, comfort or fulfillment?

C.S. Lewis said, “We are far too easily pleased.” As competitors, we wouldn’t eat a diet of unhealthy foods and expect to perform at the highest level. So, in nourishing our souls, let us not be “easily pleased.” Let’s satisfy our hunger with the richest of foods – the Word of God.