Thought for the Day

God desires that we enjoy the good things that He created for us to eat (Psalm 103:5), but we need to be sensitive to the Holy Spirit's guidance in all our ways, including eating. Honey and sweet things ought to be taken in moderation, lest overindulgence make us ill. The Bible teaches moderation and temperance in all things (Galatians 5:22-23). Overindulgence opens the door to gluttony, which has become one of the most widespread sins in Western culture and America. Food is the god of millions. Obesity is now a common problem. To maintain God's blessings, we must obey His Word regarding both spiritual and physical matters. "Let your moderation be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand" (Philippians 4:5).

The world has set the standard when it comes to eating, rather than the Word of God. Here is another area where we need to be sensitive to the Holy Spirit's guidance. First, we need to make sure that we are receiving proper spiritual food; however, the Lord is also emphasizing to His people that they need to make changes in their physical diets and receive the proper natural foods. Most of God's people have experienced His healing in their bodies, but one problem that seems to be prevalent is that after receiving healing, the devil comes back to rob them of God's gift of healing. However, if we exercise our faith and rebuke the enemy in the name of Jesus, he will flee. If you have done this and are still experiencing illness, perhaps the problem is one of maintaining the gift God has given you. By this I mean we must not only obey and keep spiritual laws, but also we must keep physical laws if we expect to walk in God's blessings.

Our body is the temple of the Holy Spirit. We are each a caretaker of our body, but many of us do not honor the God of glory who lives within us. Rather than keep His temple in good shape, we neglect it and fill it with garbage foods. We ought to assess our eating habits to bring them in line with Biblical guidelines. Many are tired and sick because a large part of their diet consists of highly-refined, nutritionally-dead foods. A good rule is to eat the "living foods" God created: fresh vegetables, fruits, grains, nuts, legumes and dairy. God's guidelines for meats are given in Leviticus 11. In ourselves, we may not be able to overcome old eating habits, but through prayer and with His help, we can (Philippians 4:13). If we seek God on this important subject, He will direct us to a solution. Ultimately, it is faith and obedience to God that gives us victory.

While it is good to emphasize proper eating and physical exercise, we must beware of extremes. Our spiritual health should always be given top priority, since it determines the quality of our lives on earth and in eternity (1 Timothy 4:8). Many people have become unbalanced by putting too much emphasis on the physical man, while neglecting the spiritual man. We must not neglect our physical health, but we should avoid becoming overly concerned about it and allowing it to absorb too much of our time. God desires that we learn self-discipline and temperance in all things. I appreciate a book that I read years ago on dieting: More of Jesus, Less of Me. Submitting to Christ's Lordship is the key to a proper balance between the care of our spiritual man and physical bodies. We should make Jesus "Lord of the Fork."