For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 2 Peter 1:8
Did you ever read the list of ingredients on a bottle of vitamin pills? I grant that some of the reading may be boring or downright incomprehensible, but there is definitely a reason why the makers of those pills include the various components. Each vitamin and mineral has its place in helping to maintain the health of our bodies, along with such other considerations as adequate exercise, fresh air, moderation in all things, and a cheerful attitude. All these contribute to making our existence in these mortal frames a bit more tolerable if not more lengthy. Our text today follows Peter’s list of our spiritual vitamins, the things we need to keep our spirits healthy, fruitful, and productive.
Every day, Doug MacLeod would make several trips up and down and across the hallways of the nursing home where he and Dorothy lived. He knew that by continuing a regular walking regimen, he could maintain the use of his legs even as others in the nursing home who were too lazy to walk must be pushed about in wheelchairs. Despite many physical limitations, Doug remained mobile long after the doctors expected him to, because of his daily using his legs. So we also must exercise our spiritual legs.
What items are in the spiritual vitamin bottle? The list is impressive: faith, virtue, knowledge, temperance, patience, godliness, brotherly kindness, and charity, or love. Pretty hard to argue against any of these things, isn’t it? And, just like some of the ingredients in your vitamin pills are required to work together, such as calcium and magnesium, so too Peter has explained that these spiritual vitamins are to be combined. Our faith is enhanced by adding virtue, which in turn benefits from a healthy dose of knowledge. But knowledge has limited value apart from self control, which works best in the presence of patience, all of which is greatly enhanced by lots of godliness. Brotherly kindness and love are also vital to the effectiveness of the others. What a lovely picture of balance in a believer’s life, if these ingredients are regularly employed!
One of the chief benefits of vitamins is to build up the body’s immune system. So too is the chief benefit of our spiritual vitamins the protection of our spirits from the evils and attitudes of this world. Take all your vitamins today. -Jim MacIntosh