What is the longest you have ever gone without eating? Almost everyone has probably skipped a meal here and there. How about a full 24 hours? Have you ever gone that long without food? Sometimes you have to fast that long before major surgery. What about going for 24 hours without eating when you’re in good health and engaged in your usual activities? Have you ever done that?

The Bible says that Jesus and Moses went for 40 days without eating. It also records that God sustained them in a special way during that time. It’s safe to say that for most of us, even to fast for 24 hours at a stretch is probably unusual.

When I was working my way through college, the cafeteria had a certain monthly minimum charge per student. If you ate more, you paid more. But if you ate less, you still paid the minimum.

One month I determined to eat less than the minimum, so I wouldn’t have to pay more. For one whole week during that month, I didn’t eat at all! I drank juice, nothing else. Not only was I able to continue my regular activities, I wasn’t even particularly hungry.

Suppose I had decided after that one-week experiment that the way to make it through college on as little money as possible would be to continue that pattern through the entire four years? It wouldn’t have been long before they would have been picking me up off the sidewalk and taking me to the hospital, would it?

In John 6, Jesus compared the spiritual life of communion and relationship with Him to the physical life. He said,

“Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you.” Verse 53.

Just as it is a law in the physical life so it is in the spiritual life: If you do not eat, you will die. It may not happen overnight, either physically or spiritually. But the law is nonetheless sure for all of that. The end result will be inevitable.

Mrs. White has told us that

“it would be well for us to spend a thoughtful hour each day in contemplation of the life of Christ. We should take it point by point, and let the imagination grasp each scene, especially the closing ones.” – The Desire of Ages, p. 83.

That’s the prescription for a well-balanced spiritual diet. When our spiritual food is centered on the life of Christ, we will grow.

Prayer has been called the “breath of the soul.” And that draws the line even closer. You may be able to go for a day without eating, but no one can go for a day without breathing!

So when I speak of a relationship with Christ, I’m not talking about a luxury that will benefit you if you happen to have the time or the inclination to take advantage of it. I’m talking about life and death. If you do not eat or breathe spiritually, you will die. It is only through continuing fellowship and communion with Christ that spiritual life continues.