A Regular Diet

13 July 2025

Written by Senior Pastor John Macindoe

Pastor Daniel launched a program in our Cantonese congregations encouraging everyone to read through the entire Bible in two years. I joined the crowd a bit late and I’m still lagging a couple of weeks behind the pack, but I’m on the journey. It’s not been easy, but it has been good.

It reminds me of my dogs. My dogs??!

We have two dogs, a Labrador and a Whippet. They need to be fed every day. I walk them most mornings. They poop a lot. They always poop on the walk. It’s annoying. Everything stops and I have to pick up their poo in the cold and dark. How can I solve this problem?

Perhaps it would be better if I stopped feeding them. Think of the time and money that could be saved. And eventually - what goes in must come out - they’d stop pooing on my walk. Problem solved.  

Nice thought, but it won’t work. Every living thing needs food. My dogs might survive for a week or two, but if they remain unfed, they will eventually waste away and become susceptible to infection and disease. If my dogs are to remain healthy, they need a regular diet of nutritious food.

Our spiritual life will only thrive if we feed on spiritual food. Our staple food must be the Word of God. For ‘man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord’ (Deut 8:3). We can avoid Bible reading and going to church for a few days, even a few weeks, and barely notice any change in our condition. But if we continue to starve ourselves of the Word of God we will eventually waste away and become susceptible to the attacks of the devil. Heed God’s Word and live.