Your Body Needs Food; However Your Appetite Does Not Get to Be Your Master
God Gave You Food to Nourish the Body He Entrusted to You, Not an Appetite to Rule Over You
Back on September 23rd we established something many believers rarely think about, YOUR BODY BELONGS TO GOD.
If that is true, then eventually we have to deal with a very practical question, WHAT ARE WE PUTTING INTO IT?
Food is a gift from God.
Eating is not sinful.
Enjoying food is not sinful.
And this is not another religious attempt to divide foods into some simplistic list of “holy” and “unholy.”
The deeper issue is stewardship and mastery.
Because anything God intended to serve you can become dangerous when you allow it to rule you.
1 Corinthians 6:12 (AMPC) “Everything is permissible (allowable and lawful) for me; but not all things are helpful (good for me to do, expedient and profitable when considered with other things). Everything is lawful for me, but I will not become the slave of anything or be brought under its power.”
There is the question.
WHAT HAS POWER OVER YOU?
Can you tell your appetite NO?
Can you walk away when you've had enough?
Can you change what you eat when you know your present habits are harming you?
Can you receive sound information about your health and actually act on it?
Or does your appetite make the decisions while your spirit keeps making excuses?
We cannot preach self-control everywhere else and suddenly declare our eating habits off limits.
Proverbs 25:28 (AMPC) “He who has no rule over his own spirit is like a city that is broken down and without walls.”
Self-control belongs in the kitchen too.
And Scripture becomes even more direct check out Proverbs 23:20-21 (AMPC) “Do not associate with winebibbers; be not among them nor among gluttonous eaters of meat, For the drunkard and the glutton shall come to poverty, and drowsiness shall clothe a man with rags.”
We rarely hear gluttony preached anymore.
We will confront sexual immorality.
We will confront drunkenness.
We will confront greed.
We will confront addictions.
Then appetite walks through the church door and somehow becomes untouchable.
SCRIPTURE DID NOT MAKE IT UNTOUCHABLE.
This is not about body size.
This is not about appearance.
This is not permission to look at another person's body and judge their spiritual condition.
A person's weight or appearance alone does not tell you whether they are healthy, disciplined, sick, taking medication, dealing with genetics, experiencing metabolic issues, or faithfully doing everything they reasonably can.
LOOK AT YOUR OWN PLATE.
Look at your habits.
Look at your choices.
Look at what you already know.
If you know certain eating habits are damaging your health, why continue pretending that stewardship has nothing to say about them?
And when a qualified healthcare professional gives you sound guidance concerning nutrition because of your health circumstances, don't automatically dismiss it simply because changing your habits is uncomfortable.
Pray for wisdom, and use wisdom when God has placed useful knowledge within your reach.
1 Corinthians 10:31 (AMPC) “So then, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you may do, do all for the honor and glory of God.”
Did you catch that?
EVEN EATING CAN GLORIFY GOD.
So this isn't about chasing the perfect diet.
It isn't about obsessing over calories.
It isn't about trying to manufacture an impressive body.
IT IS ABOUT LORDSHIP.
Food is a gift.
Your body is a stewardship.
Your appetite is a servant.
AND JESUS CHRIST IS LORD.
If your doctor tells you something needs to change, listen.
If your body is warning you something needs attention, pay attention.
If you already know your habits are working against your health, stop waiting for another revelation.
Sometimes the spiritual breakthrough isn't another prayer meeting.
SOMETIMES YOU NEED TO PUT THE FORK DOWN.
And sometimes you need to pick up something healthier.
You will not steward your body perfectly. None of us will.
The question is whether you are willing to let the Holy Spirit confront even something as ordinary and personal as what, why, and how much you eat.
Question For Today
If Jesus is truly Lord of your life, does His Lordship reach all the way to your appetite, or have you declared your plate one area where you refuse to be governed?
If You Have Ears To Hear, Then Hear It!
I pray for you each and every day.
All God's Best!
Karl McKinnie
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