There’s a cool little “hole-in-the-wall” chinese restaurant near where I work. I’ve been eating there for years. Almost as long as many of you have been on the earth. I think I just dated myself, but who cares. When you find good food, you gotta stick with it. I’ve stuck with this spot for more than 13 years now, and I’m still hooked!

The owners know me so well that when I call to place my order, the conversation usually goes something like this.

“Hello,” I say once they answer.

“Same?” the person at the restaurant asks.

“Same,” I answer. We hang up and I start making my way over for a piping hot serving of Hunan Bean Curd!! Cousin, you haven’t had tofu and broccoli like this ever in your life. It’ll make you smack your mamma and anyone else you can reach.

One day I placed my order and started driving to China Gourmet. Hunger pains gripped my stomach as I thought about the feast that awaited me. As I kept on driving, though, my stomach quieted down and a hunger in my heart took it’s place. This one was worse.

I had been having some problems in my relationship with God for several months. I hadn’t really prayed in a while. (You can’t count meal prayers as real prayers, can you?) I was in bad shape. Old bad habits were making a major comback, and I was in a spiritual funk. Between work and that chinese restaurant, I began to pour out my heart to God asking Him to change me, to take away my old broken life and give me a new start. I really hated who I had become.

As I continued talking to God, I noticed a purple minivan in front of me. I couldn’t tell you when the minivan got in front of me, but somthing semed to drive my attention to the minivan. I looked at it and noticed a faded, weather-beaten bumper sticker that said simply: READ THE BIBLE, THE PATHWAY TO LIFE.

Now I know that God doesn’t write bumper sticker slogans, but He sure uses them. I knew that God was speaking to me, telling to get back to the Guidebook for lIfe, His Holy Word.You can’t expect to have a meaningful life by cutting the Bible out of it, can you? That’s what I was doing and it was getting me nowhere–FAST!

Jesus said it best: “The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you are spirit and they are life” (John 6:63). I was trying to live my life disconnected from God and His Word–no wonder I was spiritually dying.

How are you doing? Are you connected to God?