Nourish Your Spirit A Spiritual Exercise Good nourishment from a balanced diet of vegetables and fruit, proteins, carbohydrates, and fats is important for maintaining good health. The same applies to our spirits. We all have days when we are busier than usual, but we should make a habit of taking some time for “food for the soul.” You may find it helpful to plan your spiritual diet for the coming week, much like you might plan ahead the meals you will cook and what to shop for. This will help ensure that you get at least a few minutes of spiritual feeding each day. Find what works best for you. Here are some ideas to get you started. Having a fairly structured, ongoing project will help you avoid spending time in the often-hectic early morning deciding what to read. Try reading a chapter a day from the book of Proverbs, followed by a Psalm and a page from a book of daily devotionals, such as Daily Might.1 Times of deeper study will help you find answers to your questions and solutions to your problems. You might have a study project of working through the Gospels and book of Acts, or the epistles, or one of the titles in the Get Activated or Mountain Streams book series. Or enroll in a Christian study course such as the 12 Foundation Stones.2 Lighter feeding can come from articles in Activated or other short inspirational reading. Consider listening to Christian music or reading Christian fiction or poetry for variety in your routine. Right before bed is an ideal time to read and reflect on something short, like the “From Jesus with Love” message on the back page of this magazine. Make it easy for yourself by keeping your reading material handy. For instance, if you like to have your spiritual breakfast in bed, keep the books you’ll need for that nearby; or if you’ll have it over coffee in the kitchen, keep your material there. Follow your plan for one week, and make adjustments as needed. Then follow your modified plan for another week, and so on. See what a difference those times of positive spiritual input make in how your days go.
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