Diet and Exercise

Do you cringe when you read that title?
Why is it that so often we choose what is not good for us?  We know what we should do and put it off, sometimes forever.  We all know that a good diet and exercising are what out bodies need to be strong and healthy but often lack the necessary motivation.
The same is true when it comes to faith.
Jesus said that faith like a mustard seed could move mountains.  But what is it about seed?
It could be that Jesus chose to compare faith to a seed because of the power in the seed.  Have you ever driven along the endless curves of highway #1 in Ontario?  It's rocks and curves and rocks and curves.  Occasionally you see where a tree is growing out of sheer rock.  Some seed actually managed to take root in a dip or a little crack in the rock.  As it slowly developed, it in some cases even split a huge boulder with its force.
In his second letter, Peter addressed "those who have obtained like precious faith with us by the righteousness of our God and Saviour Jesus Christ."  Seriously?  Faith like Peter's?  Peter, who grabbed the hand of a man who had been lame from birth and raised him to his feet as he commanded him to "rise and walk in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth" and then accompanied the healed man who was now "walking and leaping" into the temple (Acts 3:2-10)?  Peter, who raised Tabitha from the dead (Acts 9:36-41)?  Peter, whose shadow was reputed to heal the sick (Acts 5:15)?  His readers had "like precious faith"?
Yes.  And so do we.  "God has dealt to each one a measure of faith" (Romans 12:3).  We all have that seed.  We think we have little faith because we haven't been feeding it and exercising it.
A newborn baby has exactly the same number of muscles as the strongest body builder has.  It just needs for those muscles to be fed and exercised in order to develop.
With what should we be feeding our faith?  What diet does it require?  Answer:  the Word of God.  "Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of Christ" (Romans 10:17).  That word "hearing" in the Greek means a constant ongoing hearing and hearing and hearing, not just having heard at some point.  Faith needs to be fed regularly to grow strong.  When you read your Bible, take a little bit at a time, ask the Holy Spirit to teach you what it means for you, and then go back and think about it several times during the next 24 hours.  Meditate on it.  Make it a part of you.
And then there's the exercise.  Find a promise of God for your situation.  Sarah "judged Him faithful who had promised" and received an impossible miracle (Hebrews 11:11).  Abraham became "fully convinced that what He had promised He was also able to perform" (Romans 4:21).  Start by asking for the little needs in your life, a parking spot when you're in a hurry, an opportunity to speak to someone, a reminder to do something, protection when you drive, whatever.  As you find Him faithful to keep every one of His promises, your faith will grow to where you can believe, like Sarah and Abraham, for what is absolutely impossible in the natural.  Anything for which you have a Word promise.
Now, faith has to be combined with patience.  God's timetable is usually not the same as ours.  But if we keep our eyes off the clock or the calendar and expect that God is at work even when we don't see the evidence with our natural senses, we can lean back and watch as He works it out.
The language of faith is praise.  So, while we practice patience as we stand in faith on His promises, we will thank Him in advance for what He is going to do.  "Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God, and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus" (Philippians 4:6,7).
Okay.  Let's get busy feeding ourselves with a diet of God's Word regularly, and exercising our faith so that we turn into spiritual giants!