Gospel Food

My oldest son Andrew turned nine last month. It seems like only yesterday when I took that pregnancy test which told me, with those 2 pink lines, that I was going to be a mother for the very first time. 

Even though it was almost ten years ago now, I still clearly remember the first three months of my pregnancy with him.  I remember what food I craved (cheese) and what food I detested (chicken).  I remember talking about food, dreaming about food, planning my food.  I even had a list of specific restaurants I needed to visit. Ruby Tuesdays and (coincidentally) Andrew’s, a diner near my work, topped the list. My body was telling me something: I needed food in order to care for and nourish the little one growing inside me.

The gospel is to our soul what food is to our body. Our souls need the gospel and we don’t just need it once a month or once a week, or even once a day. We need it constantly--breakfast, lunch and dinner and in between.

We need to be constantly reminding ourselves of these amazing truths: that God sent His only Son to earth, to live a perfect life and die in our place, paying the price of all of our sins so that we might receive salvation. We our justified, not because of anything we have done or will ever do, but through our Savior’s blood, shed at Calvary.

That’s wonderful truth, you may be thinking, but I thought you were going to give me time-saving tips. Instead you are telling me that even though I can’t remember where I put the keys or what day of the week it is, I’ve got to remember the gospel too!

Trust me, I understand. I’ve been there. But preaching the gospel to yourself is not another item on your to-do list, any more than eating is. The gospel is the fuel, the source of power, strength, peace and hope that will get us moms with young kids through today, tomorrow, and this crazy overwhelming season of our lives.

Without a steady diet of gospel truth our souls will shrivel and our strength will wane; but a steady diet of gospel truth will give us power to persevere, even in the most tiring of times.

But how do we find the time to preach the gospel to ourselves? Tomorrow we’ll suggest a few ideas.