Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, now that you have tasted that the Lord is good.
1 PETER 2:2–3
There’s just something about camping that sharpens the appetite. Maybe it’s being outdoors. Maybe it’s the physical activity of hiking and setting up camp. Maybe it’s the fact that meals tend to be planned; there’s not a full freezer or pantry to graze from. Maybe it’s being just a little bit cold.
We eat differently on a camping trip too. That doesn’t necessarily mean we’re eating any healthier! There’s usually no fridge, which means it’s difficult to keep produce fresh. Unless we’ve brought an RV, there’s probably no microwave. We have to actually light a burner and wait for water to boil. We have to watch the food, pay attention, whether it’s on a Coleman stove or inside a Dutch oven sitting on coals. There’s no “Ding!” of a microwave to tell us our food is ready.
Feeding ourselves is one of the major tasks of human life. It’s one of the reasons we work for a living. “By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food” (Genesis 3:19).
Feeding our mind and our soul is work as well. Oh, it’s easy to graze on mental junk food, whatever that looks like for each of us. We live in a time and place of abundant information. We can easily find empty calories . . . or wise, nutrient-rich resources. Are we giving ourselves good spiritual nutrition?
Paul talks about some believers needing to drink spiritual milk, as they are not ready for meat. (See 1 Corinthians 3.) Wherever we are, we can reach for the most nourishing food we can stomach, and grow stronger in our faith.