Mountain Dew for the Soul

If you live in or have ever been to America, you’ll probably have heard of (and may well have tried) a soft drink called Mountain Dew. It isn’t available in the UK, so it has achieved a certain cult following among people over here that have been to the USA and tried it. Compared to other soft drinks it has a very high caffeine content (I’m told twice as much caffeine as any other soft drink), which makes it an essential drink for people who are getting limited levels of sleep yet have a lot to do. It gives you an energy/alertness boost to keep going.
I recently spent a couple of weeks as a counsellor at beaver Cross Christian Camp in Greenwich, Albany. When you are getting up early, staying up late, and each day is full of activities and you have loads of campers to keep an eye on, you soon start to appreciate the benefits of a high caffeine drink to keep you going. Between the counsellors a considerable amount of Mountain Dew was drunk over the two weeks.
And it got me thinking. In our spiritual life, do we need something ‘high caffeine’ to keep us going through all the struggles and trials of life? Wouldn’t it be great if we could get some form of ‘Mountain Dew for the soul’, a spiritual battery recharge? And here’s the good news – just such a thing is available to us.

So often people complain that they feel spiritually empty, in need of a boost. And here’s the simple truth: we get that boost when we spend time with God. I not talking about rushing through a daily devotional, reading a couple of chapters of the Bible as fast as we can and then firing out a quick prayer. I’m talking proper, serious, dedicated, intimate, honest time with God. Time spent soaking up His word, prayerfully seeking how it might apply to us today, losing yourself in worshipping Him. When was the last time you spent a really good, quality quiet time with God?
When you are physically tired, something like mountain dew will help however there are other options (like getting more sleep!), but when you are spiritually tired only time with God will help. And just as Mountain Dew needs to be drunk regularly to keep you alert, to stay alert spiritually you need regular quiet times with God, spending time in His word– going to church once a week just isn’t enough!
Remember – “people do not live by bread alone; rather, we live by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord.” Deuteronomy 8:3. If we aren’t eating on a regular basis we’ll soon starve!
We need to make it a habit to have a regular quiet time with God. It is the only way to strive off spiritual weariness; it is our ‘Mountain Dew for the soul’.