Janice Gaines - The Overflow DevoSample

Greatest Life Ever

I must confess: I love food. I’ve learned that my interest includes how it is prepared and with what ingredients. The Food Network has nurtured this love as a readily available wealth of information. If I did not sing for a living, I might be in the culinary profession. Don’t get me wrong, though. The buck begins and ends with loving how food tastes. Unfortunately, I have begun to feel the negative effects of some of my favorite foods on my body. So, I’ve had to learn how to love new, healthy foods and how to prepare them. In the process of doing so, I’ve noticed how much better I feel when I put what we would all agree are the best foods in my body. When I eat well, it’s evident in every facet of my life.

I must say that I’ve noticed the same thing spiritually. Just as eating well takes discipline and yields results, so does keeping up with the disciplines of spiritual life yield a healthy life visible to everyone—like Moses’ shining face coming down from the mountain. Jesus says in John 6:48, “I am the bread of life.” Jesus uses an example of food for a reason. We must consume it to live. There are three ways to make sure to get as much Jesus “in” us as possible.

• We study the Word. I don’t stop studying until I know that the words on the page have become more to me than just words on the page.

• We pray. Prayer is a conversation—not a transaction. Just like it would be wrong and silly to only talk to people to get what we want, so it is with God. Prayer is our gateway to relationship with Him.

• We worship. God promises in the Bible to be present when we worship. And ALL is made better in God’s presence.

When we have the foresight to make these disciplines a way of life, we find that everyone can see the difference from the outside. And just like that, we are living the best version of our life possible. Does it mean that life becomes easy? No. But we get through the famines of life with the bread (of life) we’ve stored up; and we enjoy life all the more in the surplus. How can you begin to live your greatest life ever?