Put Food in Its Place

Since infancy, we all have learned to recognize our bodies’ need for food and beverages, which we interpret as hunger or thirst.  In response to these physical needs, we must continue to fulfill our bodies’ desire to eat and drink until the day we die.  Failure to do so will bring about our early, certain, and painful demise.  The question is how do you overcome obesity and eating disorders when your body must consume food to live?  The first step is to put food back into its proper place in your life.
 
The purpose of food is to provide sustenance and nutrition to your body and to keep you in good health.  Nevertheless, people have increasingly come to require and expect food to do more than it is able or intended to do.  For instance, you should not run to food if you feel angry, depressed, lonely, disappointed, stressed, or hurt.  Whatever hole is left in your heart by life will never be filled by a tub of ice cream, a pizza, burgers with fries, or any other earthly thing you could eat or drink.  In other words, food was never meant to be your comforter, the source of your joy and happiness, a crutch to make life bearable, or a shield against pain and disappointment.  That’s the Lord’s job, and only He is uniquely qualified to do it.
 
God is our Comforter: 
“And I will pray the Father, and He shall give you another Comforter that He may abide with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth Him not, neither knoweth Him, but ye know Him, for He dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.  I will not leave you comfortless:  I will come to you” (John 14:16-18 KJV).              
“Nevertheless, I tell you the truth; it is expedient for you that I go away; for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send Him unto you” (John 16:7 KJV).
God is the Source of Joy: 
“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control” (Galatians 5:22-23).
“The joy of the Lord is your strength” (Nehemiah 8:10).
God is the Crutch to Endure Life: 
“Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.  Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  For My yoke is easy and My burden is light“ (Matthew 11:28-30). 
 
God is the Shield Against Pain and Disappointment:
 “Though the fig tree may not blossom, nor fruit be on the vines; though the labor of the olive may fail, and the fields yield no food; Though the flock be cut off from the fold, and there be no herd in the stalls – Yet will I rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation” (Habakkuk 3:17-18).
“And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose” (Romans 8:28).
In case you haven’t figured it out yet, your stomach is the equivalent of a bottomless pit.  It will continue to require more and more as it probably already has been with each passing year.  It only takes in what your body craves, and it never gives you what you truly desire.  That’s because it cannot.  It’s a false god that neither sees, hears, nor speaks, yet you run to it with peach cobbler and ice cream as your offering in times of trouble.  The so-called comfort food only earns you a temporary reprieve from your cares. 
You recognize too late that your crutch is crippling you, and you are increasingly growing more disgusted with your eating habits instead of happily indulging in your desire for your favorite foods.  Furthermore, instead of shielding you from your pain and disappointment, you realize your stomach and its cravings are slowly becoming or have already become a source of pain and disappointment in your life.  In short, you have become a living example of Philippians 3:18b-19, which states, “Many live as enemies of the cross of Christ.  Their destiny is destruction, their god is their stomach, and their glory is in their shame.  Their mind is on earthly things.”
Jesus said, "No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other, or else he will hold to the one and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon” (Matthew 6:24).  The Bible teaches us that our bodies are the temples of the Holy Spirit, and commands us to honor God with our bodies (1 Corinthians 6:19-20).  Furthermore, we are also commanded to eat and drink for the glory of God in 1 Corinthians 10:31.
 
Nevertheless, over one-third of Americans are not only entangled with the sin of gluttony, but many more are also diagnosed with eating disorders and suffering from obesity related illnesses by failing to obey God’s command to take care of the temple of the Holy Spirit by eating and drinking for His glory.  Moreover, they have also committed the sin of idolatry by giving in to every craving of their stomachs and elevating food from the status of sustenance to their comforter.
 
Neither your body nor food was meant to be served as a false god.  On the contrary, your body was meant to be a spiritual house for the One True Living God (1 Corinthians 6:19-20, 1 Peter 2:4).  Food was meant to keep you alive and healthy.  I encourage you today to repent of the sins of gluttony, idolatry, and otherwise failing to eat and drink for the glory of God.  Renounce the idols you have made of your stomach, food, and beverages, then return wholeheartedly to the One True Living God!  But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, choose this day whom you will serve..., but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord (Joshua 24:15)."  
 
If you’re ready to put food and beverages back in the place God intended for them to have in your life, ORDER YOUR COPY of the Eating as an Act of Worship Teacher’s Edition TODAY!  In the book, you will learn the biblical principles regarding the body, dieting, exercising, and maintaining a healthy body for the glory of God!  Don’t procrastinate!  Order your copy at Amazon.com and start serving the One True God in every aspect of your life, including your eating habits, TODAY!