Eating…to the Glory of God
"Give us today our daily bread." --Matthew 6:11
We began a new message series this past Sunday on "Eating with Jesus." I think it's going to be an interesting topic, as it deals with those occasions that Jesus ate with others, and how He used those opportunities to teach and have gospel conversations. If you were there on Sunday, you know I also encouraged all of us to consider following His example and using meals to connect with others in genuine fellowship and outreach.
It's pretty rare that the Scriptures focus much on what Jesus ate with His followers, but just that He ate with them. That may have had something to do with the limited options of food that they had, but either way it's quite a contrast to our day when we tend to be obsessed with what we eat. And how much.
Really, I think some of us need to remember the purpose of our eating, which of course is to feed and nourish our bodies to give us the health and energy to serve the Lord. But there's also that second side, of using our meals, at least sometimes, to connect intimately with others. That idea is largely lost in our hurried American life of fast food and drive-thrus, but sharing life--along with a meal around the table--is still such an important part for many cultures all over the world.
As for what we eat, Jesus taught His disciples to pray--in the Model Prayer--and ask God for our daily food—not more, not less. Unfortunately, our obsession with food and hedonistic patterns of eating have changed our relationship with food altogether. And now, instead of just nourishing our bodies through healthy eating, we allow over consumption and poor food choices to make us unhealthier than ever.
I sure wish I had understood this earlier in life, so I could have been in better shape and had more energy, and been a better stewardship of my health. And I wouldn't have to be working so hard now to try to catch up to where I should have been.
There are many reasons why we get off track with our eating. For one, the inordinate desire for food and drink in our culture, writes the novelist Peter DeVries, “is an emotional escape, a sign that something is eating us.” The flip side of that is that when we have a right understanding of God's plan for keeping us healthy we are more inclined to trust in His provision.
Ironically, that's one of the many good reasons for not eating, intentionally, through fasting. Fasting serves as a spiritual discipline but also is a good practice for our physical health. More and more studies are showing the benefits of fasting--whether short-term or long-term--and more and more people are practicing it as a way of life. One of the key benefits I have found in fasting, from a physical health standpoint, is that it helps me to rethink my relationship with food. And it helps me to see, as DeVries wrote, that a lot of times my eating is motivated less by hunger and more by stress and emotions--by what's eating me.
But here's the reality: God could have just wired our systems to meet our nutritional needs through other means. But instead He created us with a need to eat, and He gave us wonderful food so that we could enjoy doing it. And even better, He made it so that we could build deeper relationships with others around the table while doing it.
So to borrow from the apostle Paul's words in 1st Corinthians 10:31, "Whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do it all to the glory of God."
May the Lord be honored as we even eat to His glory this week. I am praying for you, as I hope you are for me, and I look forward to seeing you Sunday.
--Pastor Ken
