I had just finished doing my elliptical workout in record time (don’t ask me how slow it was!) As I lay on the ab bench, staring at the gym rafters, I was laboring to find my wind again! How thankful I was for God’s gift of air!! It was then I had one of those “aha” moments about life. “What will I be ‘breathing’ in heaven?” came to my mind. Then the next obvious questions came into being: what will I drink in heaven, what will I eat in heaven? Followed by the logical application question: how can I start exercising eternal life while still in my mortal body?

Here are three simple concepts of how we eat, drink, and breathe eternal life now:

The “air” we breathe in the Kingdom of God is prayer – communication with God. Paul tells us in Ephesians 6 to “pray without ceasing.” Physically, we breathe without ceasing; the spiritual parallel to breathing is prayer.

The “water” we drink in God’s Kingdom is worship – our praise and thanksgiving to God. Worship allows us to drink of the living waters of Christ. His love and power come to us as we draw near in worship Him.

The “food” we eat in God’s Kingdom is the intaking and following the Word of God. Jesus told Satan, “Man does not live on bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.” Jesus also says in John 4, “My food is to do the will of Him who sent me.” Getting the Word of God into our lives is so important, and doing the Word of God is equally as important. Jesus never separates “hearing” and “doing” when it comes to God’s Word.

Prayer, worship, taking in and obeying the Word of God – these are the elements that help nurture our eternal life, NOW. So how are we doing in nurturing eternal life now?

Are we “suffocating”? Dying of “thirst”? “Starving” to death? Or are we spiritually fruitful because we are breathing prayer, drinking through worship, and feasting on God’s Word and God’s will? Hear are a couple of ideas we can get ourselves back to the fundamentals of spiritual living:

Prayer – put the penny in the shoe (every time you feel the penny, you pray). If you eat alone, say a quick prayer in between the bites of your food.

Worship – do you remember the old teen movie, “The Ten Things I Hate About You”? Well, in the opposite spirit write out “The Ten Things I Love About God!’ Listen and sing with a worship CD or mp3.

Word – before you eat breakfast, read a paragraph of Scripture. Write out a favorite verse on an index card and put it on the dash of your car. Memorize it. As you read God’s Word, ask yourself, “How can I apply this to my life?” and then do it.

One day our mortal bodies will cease breathing air, drinking water (or Diet Coke), and eating food. How well will we adjust to the important things that we will be eating, drinking and breathing for eternity? I say, let’s start exercising for eternity NOW. For eternal life does not begin when we die, but it begins when we live for God.