Detoxing is all the craze in many health circles. The abbreviation ‘detox’ is short for ‘detoxification’, meaning to rid the body of all toxic or unhealthy substances, and usually refers to periods when certain foods and drinks and substances are avoided and healthier substances substituted.
It’s a sad fact of life that we often ingest substances which may taste pleasant, but which often do us little physical good: junk food, a surfeit of sweet things, too much caffeine or alcohol and so on. To detox means to consciously abstain from such things in an attempt to rid the body of all harmful things so as to regain a healthy and more balanced equilibrium.
What is true in the physical realm also applies to our spiritual wellbeing. Prayer, Bible study, fellowship and wholesome, holy, obedient living based on God’s word are crucial to our spiritual health, but other things easily creep in. Sometimes the things that dominate our daily lives are not in themselves sinful, but anything which takes our attention from Christ needs to be firmly resisted. Work, hobbies, TV, sport, social media, even friends and family, can all become toxic to our spiritual health if we overdose on them. God is a jealous God seeking whole-hearted devotion, not because He is needy and demanding, but because He knows better than we do ourselves what is needed for spiritual health to flourish.
Is it time for a spiritual detox?
Is it time to fast not only from food or drink but from things which are getting in the way of our first love?
Is it time to pray ‘search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me and lead me in the way everlasting’? (Ps 139:23-24)
Paul reminds us that God cannot be mocked and that we reap what we sow. (Gal 6:7) If we sow to please our sinful nature, allowing self free rein (and reign!), we will reap destruction. If we want to reap eternal life and to know peace with God, we must sow to please His Spirit. (Gal 6:8-9)
Nothing is more important than our relationship with God. His desire is for us to live holy lives that are set apart for His glory. Physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come. (1 Tim 4:8) It’s time to throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles and run with perseverance the race marked out for us. (Heb 12:2)