What we consume impacts us

Growing up I always went to Clover Point for 4-H camp in the summer. It was like most camps with crafts, swimming, outdoor adventures and games.

I remember one summer (probably around the fourth grade) they were going to have swim races. I was very excited to show off how fast a swimmer I was. Like most of the great fourth grade athletes of the time, I looked for any advantage to help me in my swimming dominance.

One of the things I thought would help was at the canteen. Before going to the race, I guzzled a few Mountain Dews knowing it would give me great energy. I jogged down to the deck with the other racers, pondering how amazed they would be when I won.

As the race began, I noticed something. In the bottom of my stomach, I began to feel a slight pain. With each stroke, that pain grew. As I turned to go back to the finish line, I tried to swim faster, but my stomach said no. It was as if it was saying, “how dare you try to go fast after drinking all that soda.”

Thankfully, I was able to make it back to the finish line and lie on the dock for a few minutes recovering. There were two things I learned that day which I would like to share now.

What we consume impacts us. Spiritually this is true as if I choose to sin it will destroy me. In the same way, if I choose righteousness it will help me.

Galatians Chapter 6: 7-9- “Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting. And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.”

On that day, I also increased my vocabulary by two words…swimming cramps. I think in the dictionary the definition is “a swimming term for something you get when you drink too much Mountain Dew.”

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