Home | Articles | Poetry | About The Author | Contact Us |
Have you heard the expressions “eat to live” and “live to eat?” There is quite a big difference in the meaning of the two phrases for which some explanation is provided below.
Eating to live is really just that...consuming enough nutrition to sustain one in a reasonably healthy condition in order to live and function daily. On the other hand, living to eat includes choices that involve desire rather than what is best — not the balanced way of doing things at all. This way involves idolatry, lust of the eyes and lust of the flesh (1 John 2:16) which completely ignores God’s instructions due to indulging or gratifying the self. If we put ourselves in priority before God in choosing the way of get as evidenced in gluttony, we are promoting self-love, comfort and control, rather than putting God first in all that we do by being moderate, balanced, and honouring our bodies as the temple He gave us (1 Corinthians 6:19-20). We are also breaching the first commandment in Exodus 20:3 that clearly states “You shall have no other gods before me”.
How does a Christian choose wisely when there are so many choices out there and not all of it is beneficial? It can be quite a minefield. The first thing to do is line up with God’s instructions and identify what He states is clean and unclean so that you can clearly distinguish between the two. In the Bible, Leviticus 11 and Deuteronomy 14:3-21 explain for us what we can eat and what we should not eat. It is relatively easy to identify a piece of chicken from a lamb chop, or a fillet of fish from slices of roast pig. What is not so easy is to identify all the ingredients in processed foods that have many things listed in fine print on the label. To really know what you are consuming it is best to read each item and Google or search out the answer from the internet if necessary. Contacting the company that produces the foodstuff is another avenue to find out exactly what the composition of those ingredients involve. This is the only way one can become familiar with food additive numbers and codes and what they mean, rather than trying to decipher all the strange or unfamiliar long words which often relate to chemically based artificial colourings, flavourings, stabilisers, raising agents, and thickeners.
Labelling is getting better and companies realise that there are plenty of consumers out there wanting to make informed decisions, mainly to avoid allergic reactions, especially involving wheat or gluten, nuts, eggs, and to distinguish between gelatin derived from a pig, bovine (beef), or from seaweed to ensure their diet is clean according to God’s laws. Usually, if not stipulated on the packaging, gelatin originates from swine as it is cheaper to obtain. So it is all about effort and doing some research in order to traverse the minefield of danger out there, if one truly wants to live in the world but be wise and separate from it in order to be holy and honour our Father (1 Peter 1:16, Leviticus 11:44, and Revelation 18:4).
Self Control: If You Cannot Control Your Appetite, How Can You Control Anything Else?
Having said that, then there is the issue of how much to eat as we do not want to be gluttonous. Dictionary.com defines gluttony as “habitual greed or excess in eating”. What does God say about gluttony? In Proverbs 23:20-21 we are admonished “Do not join those who drink too much wine or gorge themselves on meat, for drunkards and gluttons become poor, and drowsiness clothes them in rags”. Also, in Proverbs 28:7 this instruction is repeated along the same theme as God lovingly emphasizes to His children the high importance He places upon avoiding gluttonous living. There is not one positive word from God on the topic of gluttony. Instead the Bible uses words such as disgraceful, shameful, lustful, lazy behaviour, drowsiness, folly, foolishness, gorging, craving, without self control, and resulting in poverty. A descriptive analogy found in Proverbs 25:28 states “He that has no rule over his spirit is like a city that is broken down, and without walls”. We must have boundaries and God sets those boundaries. It is up to us to choose wisely and then master our own choices.
A very interesting scripture written by Paul is found in 1 Corinthians 6:12 “All things are lawful for me, but not all things are helpful. All things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the power of any” sums it up quite accurately. The fact is we all have free will and choices to make but when food and drink are no longer able to be controlled, then power is no longer in the hands of the person concerned. The principle behind this is clearly illustrated in Proverbs 24:13 “My Son, eat honey because it is good, and the honeycomb which is sweet to your taste…” but then we see in Proverbs 25:16 “Have you found honey? Eat only as much as you need, lest you be filled with it and vomit” and also Proverbs 25:27 “It is not good to eat much honey, nor is it glory to search out one’s own glory”. Thereby gluttony controls the individual and poor decisions are made. Gluttony is an unhealthy obsession, craving food which conquers the individual and enslaves them as they serve their master, their belly, as stated in Philippians 3:19.
There is an example in Ezekiel 16:49 where reference is made to the sin of Sodom and her daughters involved with gluttonous living to the point of arrogance and lacking any care or concern in helping the poor and needy from amongst them. People who live this way become so concerned about their own desires and wants, instead of partaking in the better way which includes the need for humble and simple dietary fare. Filled to the full after ingesting copious amounts, causing lethargy through digestive processes which then take up their energy, leads people to become unthankful and secure in their own ability to provide for themselves, which feeds into arrogance. Hence God refers to gluttonous consumption as disgraceful and shameful, certainly lacking any self control and dignity.
There is another biblical example to go to in order to learn from those before us, found in Numbers 11:18-34. This is the account of the Israelites only 3 days into their journey on the way to the Promised Land after witnessing the miracle of their rescue from slavery at the hands of the Egyptians. Not only did they see God’s power through Moses parting the Red Sea, they witnessed so many miracles from God, and yet they repeatedly and incessantly troubled Moses by moaning, crying and lamenting over the meat and other foods they used to enjoy in Egypt but no longer were provided with. They were not thankful for the generous provision of manna from God, which tasted like wafers and honey, and is referred to as divine food of the angels in Psalm 78:24-25. They complained bitterly, and were demanding of their own voracious, lustful will of rebellion which angered Moses to the point he wanted to die. Indeed he asked God to mercifully put him out of his misery as the people troubled him so much. However God took care of Moses and sent help. The people were given plenty of meat to eat so much so that it came out of their nostrils due to being “full to the brim” and subsequently made them sick (Numbers 11:20). Rather unpleasant to say the least. This should be a most important lesson for us to always be grateful for everything our Father provides for us, whether the food is simple or just enough to sustain us.
So how do we avoid or conquer the sin of gluttony? Notice in Romans 13:14 “But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts” is sage advice from the apostle Paul directing us to know what God desires from us. Colossians 3:1-2 alerts us to seek out the spiritual things — the better things, rather than the physical things. 1 Corinthians 10:31 concludes with “Whether, then, you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God”. In order to live righteously having self control over our appetites, we need to sincerely repent of gluttony if guilty of this sin, change, and develop a strong relationship with God in humble, grateful thanks — there is no room in the elect’s life for gluttony. Determine here and now to discard anything that is eating at you in order to break free from allowing food to control you.