In my Introductory blog I discussed first steps, and how they begin your journey. Before even buying tackle, the first step to catching (largemouth bass) or bass is understanding why they bite in the first place. According to the professional bass angler Roland Martin, bass have nine reasons they strike at bait: 1) Feeding 2) reflex action 3) anger 4) protective instinct 5) curiosity 6) competition 7) territorial instinct 8) killer instinct 9) ignorance . Out of the nine, lets take a closer look at feeding. This first striking trigger is the most important reason bass strike. Do you notice anything familiar about this trait? Personally, when I’m lacking spiritually I feed on unhealthy things. Feeding is a main trigger that stimulates me to act in ways that I may not want to, resulting in consequences I later regret. Have you ever been lacking and craved something, only to obtain what you later regretted? This trait not only has the ability to affect our relationships with friends and family, but also with God. However, there is hope. We can keep ourselves in check by keeping ourselves full.
Feeding
In Roland Martin’s book 101 Bass-Catching Secrets, he states that “Feeding bass will strike just about anything…” Well, what causes a bass to feed in the first place? Time of day, weather condition, and temperature are just a few reasons that motivate bass to feed. Bass do not have eyelids, so they manage the amount of light by positioning themselves in strategic shady areas. Early in the morning and later in the evening when sun light is minimal, bass have free reign of the water not being limited to the shady areas. This allows them more access to areas for ambushing prey. Barometric pressure corresponding with the weather condition, affects the swim bladder of the bass. Low barometric pressure preceding a storm stimulates the bass to eat to be able to weather the storm. Correspondingly high barometric pressure following the passing of a storm affects the bass adversely driving them to heavy cover or deeper water. Temperature also stimulates the bass to feed, whether it is driven by the day or the season. Examples of this are when the water cools down from a hot summer day or when the water warms up from the initial transition into spring. If you have ever witnessed bass feeding then you understand how aggressive and primal it is. Their craving for nourishment overpowers their judgement resulting in them being hooked.
Spiritual Junk Food
If you have ever been not just hungry, but starving then you know anything you see is fair game to eat. Chips, cookies, candy, a leather shoe, anything to quell that pain in your gut! You lose your discipline in extreme times and your need to feed allows you to become aggressive and primal severely compromising your judgement. Spiritually speaking we do the same with what our flesh craves. Rather than managing our hunger by eating healthy foods for consistent meals, we settle for junk food that is not only not nutritious, but also harmful to our body. Similarly what the flesh craves is spiritual junk food. Scripture tells us in Romans 8:8 that “Those who are in the realm of flesh cannot please God.” So, what does the term flesh mean? Well, scripture defines flesh or acts of the flesh in Galatians 5:19-21 as “ 19 …sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; 20 idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions 21 and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like…” When our spiritual stomach is empty our spirits are low. We tend to lash out at people, gravitate towards substances, and prioritize selfish things. Basically we are utilizing everything that we think will bring us comfort and nourishment to fill the void left by poor spiritual meal management. Fulfilling our fleshly cravings results in damaged relationships, compromised mental fitness, and degraded physical fitness. So how can we properly manage our spiritual hunger and curb our spiritual junk food cravings?
Eat Some Bread
When we are focused on God’s word we receive our daily bread, our nourishment. I’m sure you are familiar with the verses dealing with “daily bread” such as in Matthew or Luke where Jesus teaching the Apostles to pray, included in his prayer, “Give us today our daily bread.” Why do you think that this was a priority for Jesus to incorporate into prayer asking for daily bread? Because Jesus knew that if you don’t have nourishment then you will wither and die. There is no nourishment in the flesh. Jesus reinforced the importance of focusing on God’s word as stated in Proverbs 30:8 where the author asks the lord “Keep falsehood and lies far from me; give me neither poverty nor riches, but give me only my daily bread” When our spiritual stomachs are nourished correctly we not only have our cravings curbed, but we are also more spiritually fit. We are able to not only give our best to our family, friends, and community, but also to God. So why does this matter? Well, usually the more you put into something the more you get out. Spiritually speaking, the more you give of yourself, the more you get of God. This does not mean the more of a Christian you are the bigger your bank account, it means the more you grow in God the more love, peace, and fulfillment you will have.
Just like for the bass when they are motivated to feed and they see that delicious looking plastic in the form of a worm, its hard for us to turn away from our spiritual junk food. Keep in mind the bait for the bass as well as for us has hidden within it a hook. The trick to not getting hooked is to fill that void with something that is nutritious, and will keep you full for long periods of time. Our daily bread is all the nutrition we could ever want, and the only way to get our bread is from God. So, take a minute and think about what that means. It starts with a first step, let that first step be starting a relationship with God.
Feeding
In Roland Martin’s book 101 Bass-Catching Secrets, he states that “Feeding bass will strike just about anything…” Well, what causes a bass to feed in the first place? Time of day, weather condition, and temperature are just a few reasons that motivate bass to feed. Bass do not have eyelids, so they manage the amount of light by positioning themselves in strategic shady areas. Early in the morning and later in the evening when sun light is minimal, bass have free reign of the water not being limited to the shady areas. This allows them more access to areas for ambushing prey. Barometric pressure corresponding with the weather condition, affects the swim bladder of the bass. Low barometric pressure preceding a storm stimulates the bass to eat to be able to weather the storm. Correspondingly high barometric pressure following the passing of a storm affects the bass adversely driving them to heavy cover or deeper water. Temperature also stimulates the bass to feed, whether it is driven by the day or the season. Examples of this are when the water cools down from a hot summer day or when the water warms up from the initial transition into spring. If you have ever witnessed bass feeding then you understand how aggressive and primal it is. Their craving for nourishment overpowers their judgement resulting in them being hooked.
Spiritual Junk Food
If you have ever been not just hungry, but starving then you know anything you see is fair game to eat. Chips, cookies, candy, a leather shoe, anything to quell that pain in your gut! You lose your discipline in extreme times and your need to feed allows you to become aggressive and primal severely compromising your judgement. Spiritually speaking we do the same with what our flesh craves. Rather than managing our hunger by eating healthy foods for consistent meals, we settle for junk food that is not only not nutritious, but also harmful to our body. Similarly what the flesh craves is spiritual junk food. Scripture tells us in Romans 8:8 that “Those who are in the realm of flesh cannot please God.” So, what does the term flesh mean? Well, scripture defines flesh or acts of the flesh in Galatians 5:19-21 as “ 19 …sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; 20 idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions 21 and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like…” When our spiritual stomach is empty our spirits are low. We tend to lash out at people, gravitate towards substances, and prioritize selfish things. Basically we are utilizing everything that we think will bring us comfort and nourishment to fill the void left by poor spiritual meal management. Fulfilling our fleshly cravings results in damaged relationships, compromised mental fitness, and degraded physical fitness. So how can we properly manage our spiritual hunger and curb our spiritual junk food cravings?
Eat Some Bread
When we are focused on God’s word we receive our daily bread, our nourishment. I’m sure you are familiar with the verses dealing with “daily bread” such as in Matthew or Luke where Jesus teaching the Apostles to pray, included in his prayer, “Give us today our daily bread.” Why do you think that this was a priority for Jesus to incorporate into prayer asking for daily bread? Because Jesus knew that if you don’t have nourishment then you will wither and die. There is no nourishment in the flesh. Jesus reinforced the importance of focusing on God’s word as stated in Proverbs 30:8 where the author asks the lord “Keep falsehood and lies far from me; give me neither poverty nor riches, but give me only my daily bread” When our spiritual stomachs are nourished correctly we not only have our cravings curbed, but we are also more spiritually fit. We are able to not only give our best to our family, friends, and community, but also to God. So why does this matter? Well, usually the more you put into something the more you get out. Spiritually speaking, the more you give of yourself, the more you get of God. This does not mean the more of a Christian you are the bigger your bank account, it means the more you grow in God the more love, peace, and fulfillment you will have.
Just like for the bass when they are motivated to feed and they see that delicious looking plastic in the form of a worm, its hard for us to turn away from our spiritual junk food. Keep in mind the bait for the bass as well as for us has hidden within it a hook. The trick to not getting hooked is to fill that void with something that is nutritious, and will keep you full for long periods of time. Our daily bread is all the nutrition we could ever want, and the only way to get our bread is from God. So, take a minute and think about what that means. It starts with a first step, let that first step be starting a relationship with God.
