Food; one of my favorite topics!!! Food means different things to different people: My great-aunt Elizabeth frequently used to say- "you either eat to live or live to eat". (and she lived a whopping 105 years) The Weight-watchers meetings I attend weekly remind me that eating can be both healthy and fun. Just this past Monday, I heard about PB2, which is powdered peanut butter. At only a small fraction of the fat, I hope to find it an enjoyable substitute to the "normal" kind. Oh, I went off on a tangent and forgot about the picture. Meatloaf, topped by mashed potatoes and a garnish- and it looks like dessert??? What is dessert anyway? A custom, a necessity, a pleasure, indulgence??? When I was eight years young, my great-aunt Helen and her husband Gardner took me to Thornie's restaurant in Troy one evening. I remember it because it was the first time I had ever been in such a place. Even though it was suppertime, I ordered a Western omelet with cheese. When I was done, Helen said"and NOW, what would you like for DESSERT"??? After a long silence, I said- may I have another one of those things, please? It was the best dessert I have ever had, barring none!!! The Bible has a great deal to say about food, more than I can fully discuss in this brief post, but the following verses are but a few that involve food....
Genesis, Chapter 3
6 When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took some of its fruit, and ate; and she gave some to her husband with her, and he ate it, too.
Matthew, Chapter 6
25 Therefore I tell you, don’t be anxious for your life: what you will eat, or what you will drink; nor yet for your body, what you will wear. Isn’t life more than food, and the body more than clothing? 26 See the birds of the sky, that they don’t sow, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns. Your heavenly Father feeds them. Aren’t you of much more value than they?
Matthew, Chapter 25
34 Then the King will tell those on his right hand, ‘Come, blessed of my Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; 35 for I was hungry, and you gave me food to eat. I was thirsty, and you gave me drink. I was a stranger, and you took me in.
John, Chapter 4
Romans, Chapter 14
13 Therefore let’s not judge one another any more, but judge this rather, that no man put a stumbling block in his brother’s way, or an occasion for falling. 14 I know, and am persuaded in the Lord Jesus, that nothing is unclean of itself; except that to him who considers anything to be unclean, to him it is unclean. 15 Yet if because of food your brother is grieved, you walk no longer in love. Don’t destroy with your food him for whom Christ died. 16 Then don’t let your good be slandered, 17 for the Kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit. 18 For he who serves Christ in these things is acceptable to God and approved by men. 19 So then, let us follow after things which make for peace, and things by which we may build one another up. 20 Don’t overthrow God’s work for food’s sake. All things indeed are clean, however it is evil for that man who creates a stumbling block by eating. 21 It is good to not eat meat, drink wine, nor do anything by which your brother stumbles, is offended, or is made weak.
Food can be many, many things to different people, but it is NOT EVERYTHING!!! Like everything given to us by God it should be used correctly and thankfully received. God will give us what we really need and we should give to others as well. Unfortunately, I am still working on all this, but I am making progress. Take a few minutes today to think about your relationship with food and others today- maybe at lunch or supper; I will!!