I didn’t think anything of it at first. After all, I was only working on 3 hours of sleep, myself. If I was sluggish, why shouldn’t my puppy be sluggish too? Why shouldn’t I be needing to drag her around the half kilometer road that encircled the local cemetery? I had just returned at 3:30 that morning from a 3-day trip to Atlantic Canada, and I was far too tired to remember how my 10-month-old Golden Retriever usually runs circles around me for 3½ kilometers, only stopping because I can’t go any further! Now I, as draggy as I was, I was dragging her . . .

It wasn’t until I went to feed the dog and found two spotless food dishes that I began to wonder. My family had survived my 3-day absence remarkably well and I couldn’t complain about the job my husband had done in keeping the boys dressed and fed and keeping the house in a semi-state of neatness. But somehow, washing the dog food dish was more than I would have expected them to do and turning to my husband, I asked, “Did someone feed the dog while I was gone?”

“Of course!” was his reassuring response. “I reminded the boys to feed her!”

The response satisfied me for a moment, until I opened her food container that is, and noticed that it still contained exactly the same amount of food it had contained when I left. “Donovan?” I asked, turning to my oldest boy. “Did the dog get fed while I was gone?”

“Yes!” he responded enthusiastically. “Darien fed her!”

Things were beginning to look suspicious. Especially when I saw the bone-dry water dish . . .

“Darien?” I called. “Did you feed the dog while I was gone?”

“Donovan did!” came the equally-enthusiastic response.

I sighed deeply as I scooped kibbles into the dish. No wonder she hadn’t been interested in a run! She hadn’t had any food or water for 3 days!!! I would have been in worse shape than she was! And as I watched, she gobbled up 5½ cups of kibbles—3 cups more than her usual breakfast! And that evening, she ate another 4 cups—2 cups more than usual!

Few of us would be forced to go without food or water for three days; yet so many of us go that long or longer without spiritual food. And if three days without food makes my dog sluggish, then what does three or more days without spiritual food do? Just like my dog needs her twice-a-day feedings, plus plenty of water throughout the day, we, also need twice-a-day time with our God, plus plenty of continuous prayer throughout the day in order to maintain our spiritual vitality!

But as I thought about this, my mind went a step farther: What if the boys HAD filled her food dish, but put a screen over it so she couldn’t get to it? Would that have been any better than not feeding her at all? No, of course not. In order for her body to benefit from the food, she has to chew it up and swallow it. Yet isn’t this how we so often “eat” our spiritual food? We tend to read 3 chapters from the Bible, 2 in the morning and 1 in the evening, and we have a brief prayer, which usually consists of going through a list of prayer requests. But I’m afraid this is no better than filling the food dish but not ever “eating” it, for in order for us to get any good out of our spiritual food, we have to “ingest” it. We have to read it, meditate upon it, rehearse it in our minds, ask the Holy Spirit to reveal to us the meaning for OUR lives, and pray that God will help us remember His Word at the times when we most need it.

For example, reading the Bible through in a year is great to do, and I recommend it. But it doesn’t replace the daily meditation on a short Biblical passage. It doesn’t have to be long, for sometimes God speaks to us through just ONE verse. But whatever the message is, we MUST get it INTO our souls where it can nourish and sustain us for whatever “run” we are asked to go on!

What about you, friend? Are you looking like my poor pup? Have you been depriving your body, soul, and spirit of its spiritual food? Why not try a bite today? Like my hungry dog, you may find yourself soon gobbling it down!

Oh. And when your mom is gone on a 3-day trip, don’t forget that the dog relies on YOU for food!

Lyn Chaffart