Food Transitions Finale: Leaving and Following

My gracious and wise Father gave food to sustained me physically, to delight my senses, to understand spiritual truths, to give me a taste of my heavenly banquet, and to sanctify my heart. The transitions I have chronicled in this mini-series are teaching me to leave behind chaff and to follow Christ and when I do this, I can truly enjoy and benefit from the food He has provided.

Will I leave or follow childhood patterns, my sin nature, other cultures, modern culture, current trends, medical protocols, peer pressure, my flesh, my emotions, or my God?

I am a new creature in Christ. Yet, I struggle against the whispers (or shouts) of those things that desire for me to elevate FOOD to a place that belongs to GOD alone. As I reviewed my mini-series on food, I have a few parting thoughts to challenge my heart to leave behind the chaff and follow Christ's example and godly principles:

• God intended food for my good and to provide what I needed and He intended for it to taste delicious! Have you considered that God does not need food? It delighted Him to make it for us. We are to delight in it and use it as He intended--for our good. Christ delighted to provide wine for a party (and it was the BEST wine) and  to feed multitudes,. God commanded feast days.Yes, they were to eat and enjoy it. Enjoy the wide variety of cultural foods as preparation for the heavenly banquet!
• Recognize that sin has marred my body's hunger sensors and man's food plans. I discovered that man's food programs either ask us to ignore hunger and fullness or to "listen" to it. Both fail to see the impact of our sinful human reasoning and the impact of sin on our frail bodies. To deny a God-given signal may be wrong if my body requires nourishment. Likewise, my body's huger/fullness sensors have been impacted by sin.  My chronic illness caused me to lose my appetite and hunger. I had to force myself to eat. Sin also has impacted our sense of what we would best meet our body's nutritional needs. Knowledge often has to trump my "intuition" or feelings in regards to what I eat.  So, though I can use theses sensors, I cannot depend on them. All past and present food influences must be filtered through scriptural truths to counteract impact of sin.
• Put people ahead of food. Christ saw the needs of the people and met their needs. He tailored the correct food for the people. People are more important than food-- listening, caring, praying, serving, and loving others. Fellowship  is more important than food. Allowing myself and others to comfortably attend potlucks without eating, for whatever reason, is putting the people ahead of the food.
• Let nothing take the place of God in my life. Just as Jesus joined His followers in a meal, I think He would join me for a cup of coffee. I know that He would not NEED coffee--and not just because He is God. Whenever I feel I need a certain food, I have to look at why. I am convicted that coffee (or any other food/drink) does not strengthen me, uphold me, encourage me, or comfort me--that is God's job. I need to go to Him and learn to be satisfied in God. This requires time, energy, focus, and conviction to keep my heart and mind stayed on Him.

Food--God's gift to us.  He uses it to delight us with its beautiful colors, flavor and textures. He uses it to challenge us to be transformed into His image by regarding it correctly. He also nourishes us so we can accomplish His service.. Food--God's gift to us so I can follow Him. That's a great thought for a finale!