Live to Eat This Instant!

Live to Eat

Some people eat to live.
Others live to eat.

I’m a proud member of the latter group. Food makes me happy. I like thinking about it, planning for it, buying it, preparing it, and of course savoring every delightful bite of it. I love that our bodies are designed to need food on a daily basis. Every night upon retiring, it’s not like we have to wait another week to eat again … we get to start all over again when we wake up! The joy is near-constant.

I bet members of the "eat to live" group have no idea what it’s like for us who live to eat. I’m guessing that for them, food is an after-thought. Eating is something they HAVE to do, rather than GET to do. Maybe they think to grab a bite only when they glance at the clock and realize it’s 9 p.m. and, "Oh, yeah, I should have some dinner." Or—horror of horrors—perhaps they occassionally even miss a meal entirely and not realize it until the next one. (Who are you people?!)

On a recent vacation, while I physically feasted, I spiritually starved. Though I’d packed my Bible for the trip, I found it way more fun to pack my stomach. Somehow I thought I could use a vacation from God’s Word as well as "real life." I had no idea the effects of my decision on my spirit until I was headed home. I cracked the Book open to read a Psalm and found myself drinking in several as though I was severely dehydrated.

If our body is made for daily feedings, what about our spirit? Whether we eat to live or live to eat, do we hunger for the things of the Lord? Do thoughts of our Father consume you like thoughts of food consume the "live to eat" crowd? Do you crave His Word like it’s Grandma's apple pie ala mode? What if there really is a Food that can't be consumed too much...and only one nourishing Source that truly satisfies?

"Jesus answered, ‘It is written: "Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God."’" Matthew 4:4

"Taste and see that the Lord is good." Psalm 34:8