Train yourself for godliness. 1 Timothy 4:7
Diet shapes appetite over time. You will want more of whatever you feed yourself, so choose your diet carefully. If you are used to eating burgers, fries, and ice cream, then you will have an appetite for burgers, fries, and ice cream. And you will likely face serious health consequences. But if you change your diet, you can change your appetite. Appetite can be cultivated.
Think about a person who is really into computer games—let’s call him Jake. Jake loves these games. He buys them, plays them, talks about them, and thinks about them. He’ll spend 20 hours or more playing them each week, and he still has an appetite for more.
One day, a friend at college says to him, “Jake, what are you doing with your life?” But Jake doesn’t really know. He goes to class, works, hangs out with friends, and plays video games. His days and weeks are shaped by his appetite and his appetite is fed by his diet.
Most people have moments when they ask, “What am I doing with my life?” “Could I not make better use of it?” “Is this the best I can do?” But these moments of insight pass, and they settle back into the same pattern they knew before.
What appetites are shaping your life? Do you like to work out? Sleep? Watch movies? Read? There’s nothing wrong with any of these, but has your hunger and thirst for God and His righteousness been diminished by your hunger and thirst for other things?
Are the legitimate pleasures of your life holding you back from becoming all that Christ calls you to be?
