20/20 Vision Day 5 - What You Put Into Your Mouth

“One thing I have asked from the Lord, that I shall seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord and to meditate in His temple.” Ps27:4NIV

As a childbirth educator, it didn’t take long for me to see what happens the minute you speak to someone about changing their eating habits:  Resistance! Denial! Lies! Actual eyes-glaring hatred! No one likes to have food restrictions imposed by someone else. In my early practice, I thought people would love me for telling them the good things to eat to grow a healthy baby!  Nowadays, there's so much information about the value of foods, how many calories, carbs, proteins, fiber sources etcetera are necessary for daily health.  “It’s not what you eat, but how much.”  “You are what you eat.”  “Smaller portions.”  “Less carbs.” "More vegetables."

Today’s exercise is not something you need to report to others.  It’s something you  need to ask God about.  My favorite verses related to food are John 4:32&34NIV “But He said to them, “I have food to eat that you do not know about.” and “Jesus said to them, ‘My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to accomplish His work.’”  

 “After Jesus called the crowd to Him, He said to them, “Hear and understand! It is not what enters the mouth that defiles the person, but what comes out of the mouth, this defiles the person.” ”Do you not understand that everything that goes into the mouth passes into the stomach, and is eliminated?” Matt 15:10-11&17NASB

   “With the fruit of a person’s mouth his stomach will be satisfied; he will be satisfied with the product of his lips." Pro18:20NASB Satisfaction comes from the fruit of a person's mouth, not what is put into it

  “But he said to them, “I have food to eat that you know nothing about. So the disciples began to say to one another, “No one brought him anything to eat, did they?” Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of the one who sent me and to complete his work.” John 4:32-34NIV 

Think about it:  Is God showing you some things that need to be eliminated or changed. Do you use food for energy or to appease appetite? Appetite: a natural desire of pleasure or good...either of body or mind.* Does appetite (desire control when and what we are to eat? Have you ever fasted or experienced hunger pangs?

Thank you, Father God, for providing daily manna to thousands for 40 years, for feeding the 5000 through Jesus in a miraculous way, for the written Word about fasting, for teaching us through Jesus example, for your mercy to us.  Thank you for blessing us with your faithfulness to sustain us as we work to evaluate what and why we use food.

*Webster's 1828 Dictionary