As we remember the glow of celebrating our Savior’s birth and prepare for the New Year coming, I’m thinking it might be a good idea to get back to basics.  Who are we anyway?

As Christians, we often describe ourselves as sinners, saved by Grace.  For us that is meaningful, but for many they don’t quite get it.  Saved from what?  Certainly not sin.  There is not actual sin is there?  Well, yes, there is. And that sin is serious. It is something that we must be saved from and then protected from as we live out life here on Earth.  There are a lot of very scholarly things that could be said here, but today I am borrowing some wisdom from another source.  I cannot resist sharing this with you because it hits the nail so exactly on the head, in a very simple way.

TWO WOLVES

One evening an old Cherokee told his grandson about a battle that goes on inside people. He said, "My son, the battle is between two wolves inside us all.

"One is Evil -  It is anger, envy, jealousy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego.

"The other is Good - It is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion and faith."

The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather: "Which wolf wins?"

The old Cherokee simply replied, "The one you feed."

Though theologically imperfect, this is a great picture of this truth:  You are what you eat.

Even as the food a pregnant woman eats also feeds her baby, what we eat spiritually also feeds our inner selves.  “The one you feed” really does describe what helps us grow closer to God or further away.

Sometimes we spend a lot of time reading, listening to and absorbing many things besides the Word of God or related books, movies and music, and very little time “nibbling” on the Word.  We may not be feeding on obvious “bad,” but it would seem that we are also not “feasting” on the Word in order to remain healthy.

May God bless us all as we attempt to feed the “good” and starve the “bad” for the year we call 2012.  May we spend as much time as possible listening, reading, discussing and enjoying God’s Word in every way we can for this next year.  Let the Feast begin.