You Could Probably Use a Snack

If you're feeling a little peckish, you might want to grab a bite to eat before you read any further. Today we're going to talk about food. I'll wait.

Have you ever stopped to think about the role food, drink, and the partaking of these things play in the Bible? Before mankind was formed, food was provided by our Creator to sustain us. The perversion of that provision proved eternally, generationally tragic in the Garden of Eden. Noah was ordered to take food for his family and the animals to sustain them during the flood. When Noah and his family left the ark, God gave humanity permission to eat the flesh of animals. Abraham hosted the Lord, serving butter, milk, and a tender young calf. Lot prepared a feast fit for angels; his wife provided the salt. (I didn't even try to resist that.) Esau, grandson of Abraham, sold his birthright for some stew, and Jacob later stole his brother's blessing with the aroma of savory game. All this talk of food, and we're not even out of Genesis yet! A dream about food lands Joseph, Jacob's son, a job as second in command to Pharaoh, and the ensuing famine relocates all of Israel's (Jacob's) family to Egypt. Despite the nation's deliverance from slavery they murmured against God, an offense often predicated by hunger or thirst. Leviticus contains a litany of dietary laws. Fast-forward to the New Covenant, Jesus calls Himself the Bread of Life and offers those who desire Living Water (the Holy Spirit). Jesus fed multitudes with barely enough for a young boy. John devoted an entire five chapters in his Gospel to the goings-on at the Passover Feast more commonly known as Jesus' Last Supper. Jesus commands us to remember Him with food and drink, bread and wine. In one of Paul's epistles, God through the apostle exhorts us to do all, whether we eat or drink, to His glory; in others, he speaks unfavorably of those who choose fleshly pursuits like food and drink over whole-hearted service to the Lord. All of Scripture concludes with a tremendous feast, the Marriage Supper of the Lamb. And that's just a taste of references to food and drink! (See what I did there?)

What of eating and drinking in our society? Eating contests, innumerable books on dieting or recipes, "reality" shows, the billion-dollar snack industry! We have terms like "food desert" and "hangry" and "morbidly obese." Christians (hopefully) "fast and pray," American celebrations revolve around a menu. Where's all the hoopla about oxygen?! Isn't breathing more important? Ever seen a toddler hold their breath in defiance. It can terrify a parent --just once. It doesn't work. The child holds their breath, and a properly functioning body automatically restarts the breathing. God designed us to survive in that way, automatically. Eating and drinking, however necessary for life, was placed within our control. We can follow instructions and receive the greatest benefits or abuse the process and suffer tragic consequences. God gives life, but we control the living of it.

God breathed into Adam the breath of life. Adam did nothing but receive it, a free gift from his Creator God. Adam was now alive. After His resurrection, Jesus breathed on His disciples, telling them, "Receive the Holy Spirit." The Holy Spirit was now with them. But to partake, to experience, to sustain real living, to "taste and see" the goodness of the Lord was going to require --and does still require of us --a choice, compliance, regimen. Just as breathing is the most basic and reflexive sign of life, salvation and the presence of God's Holy Spirit in us is the entry level position of believers. Our commitment to proper, regular eating and drinking sustains living. Our commitment to abiding in the Bread of Life, (obeying Him, reading and trusting in His words, talking to Him and listening to Him, worshiping Him) and sharpening our sensitivity to the work of the Living Water in us is what gives us that next level, resurrectionary life. Increased activity means a need for additional calories and increased hydration. Denying that need can result in reduced ability, organ failure, or death; living to the fullest becomes impossible. The further we travel on this journey with our Savior, the harder the days, the more things He gives us to steward, the closer we get to Him, the more we are called to do, the greater the demand on our spirit --additional time with the Bread of Life is needed, additional refreshing with Living Water is required. Denying that need can result in reduced ability, heart failure, or the death of a vibrant Christian life; living to the fullest becomes impossible. 

The focus on food is no accident. God knows that whatever He gives us to control, without first submitting to Him, we will pervert. Hunger drives us to distraction; it commandeers our schedules and our budgets. Our response makes us unhealthy. But if those same passions were applied to the feeding and watering of our spirits... If the same industry used to care for our physiology was used to care for our spirituality... Are you prepared to increase your recommended daily intake?  

  

Midweek: It Is Well

Recently, I was searching for some easy-to-sing and familiar choruses. I came across the magnificent hymn, It Is Well with My Soul, by Horatio Spafford. With it, someone included a brief history of its marvelous inception. You can find the lyrics here, and after you have read the story of Spafford's writing of this hymn, I would encourage you to read back over the lyrics with fresh eyes. This excerpt is taken from a blog, Christian Discipleship Lessons: 

Horatio Gates Spafford was born in New York, on 20th October 1828, but it was in Chicago that he became well-known for his clear Christian testimony. He, and his wife Anna were active in their church, and their home was always open to visitors. They counted the world-famous evangelist, Dwight L. Moody, among their friends. They were blest with five children, and considerable wealth. Horatio was a lawyer, and owned a great deal of property in his home city.

Not unlike Job in the Old Testament of the Bible, tragedy came in great measure to this happy home. When four years old, their son, Horatio Jnr, died suddenly of scarlet fever. Then only a year later, in October 1871, a massive fire swept through downtown Chicago, devastating the city, including many properties owned by Horatio. That day, almost 300 people lost their lives, and around 100,000 were made homeless. Despite their own substantial financial loss, the Spaffords sought to demonstrate the love of Christ, by assisting those who were grief-stricken and in great need.

Two years later, in 1873, Spafford decided his family should take a holiday in England... Horatio was delayed because of business, so he sent his family ahead: his wife and their four remaining children, all daughters...

On 22nd November 1873, while crossing the Atlantic on the steamship, Ville du Havre, their vessel was struck by an iron sailing ship. Two hundred and twenty six people lost their lives, as the Ville du Havre sank within only twelve minutes.

All four of Horatio Spafford’s daughters perished, but remarkably Anna Spafford survived the tragedy. ... Anna immediately sent a telegram to her husband, which included the words “Saved alone….”

Receiving Anna’s message, he set off at once to be reunited with his wife. [Immediately after Spafford sailed past the very spot where the Ville du Havre had sunk and his daughters had perished] it is said that Spafford returned to his cabin and wrote the hymn “It is well with my soul” ...

Following this deep tragedy, Anna gave birth to three more children, but she and Horatio were not spared even more sadness, as on February 11th, 1880, their only son, Horatio (named after the brother who had died, and also after his father), also died at the age of four.

In August 1881 the Spaffords left America with a number of other like-minded Christians, and settled in Jerusalem. There they served the needy, helped the poor, and cared for the sick, and took in homeless children. Their desire was to show those living about them, the love of Jesus.

~ Christian Discipleship Lessons

Spafford -- The Story Behind the Hymn “It Is Well with My Soul”

Time for Judgment

Years ago, a friend was sharing a lesson she learned as she was attempting to get to church one Sunday morning. She planned to drop her trash into the chute as she headed down the hall and out of her building. Just beneath the trash chute lay a pile of broken glass. "Who would just leave this here?" she wondered and headed back to her apartment to grab a dustpan and brush. As she disposed of the glass, she realized she'd cut herself. I'm not certain if she returned again to her apartment to treat the cut, but the thought she had and the words she used to express it made such an impact on me: "That's a lot of blood just to clean up someone else's mess." Wow. Did you get that? Of course, her thoughts turned to the Savior's blood shed for all, the atoning blood of an innocent Man.

This morning, I read Matthew 7:1-6. The passage begins with "Judge not that you be not judged." People who are doing wrong stuff love to throw that one about. You can't judge me! Ya think? Well, it just so happens the Bible doesn't end with that verse. The book of Matthew doesn't even end with that verse. It goes on to say that the way we judge is the standard by which we will be judged. You know, like everybody uses three increments of twelve inches to measure off a yard. Everybody recognizes a pint is two cups. Everyone who judges by the standard of Scripture will be judged that way. Are you good with that? I am SO good with that! But let's just hold that thought for a minute. 

Matthew 7:3-5 talk about the hypocrisy of trying to pass judgment on others while thinking we have no issues of our own, as though we "have arrived." None of us is perfect, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't correct anyone. Verse 2 and verse 6 clearly say judgment is "a thing." Verse 2, as I said, talks about the standard used to judge, and verse 6 says not to waste our time trying to correct people who are not truly interested in being corrected or improved. People who are quite content rooting around in their own slop are only going to trample our words of wisdom; they're not going to receive correction no matter how true it is and no matter the spirit in which it is given. Look at you! Are you perfect? they'll fire back. But judgment rendered in love --even by another imperfect person --and based on the standard of God's Holy Word is part of our relationship with other members of the body and even, with the rest of the world. Do you want someone to stand back and watch you destroy your testimony or allow you to preach a false gospel to a room full of people? Are you, day after day, watching your neighbor go to hell while keeping mum so you don't seem "too judgy." That doesn't seem like a loving thing to do. (Bear in mind, these are the things God says to me before I share them with you.) 

So, back to all that blood, "a lot of blood just to clean up someone else's mess." This is the standard by which we are to judge and be judged. Every one of us sinners, enemies of God from birth, deserving of moral judgment by a moral God according to moral law. The punishment, of course, is death, separation from a perfect, holy God. But for the blood of Jesus. But for His righteousness imputed to us. The standard has not change, does not change. Sin = Death. The blood of Jesus, however, cleanses all who would claim it, who would come under it, from all sin. It's not a free pass: it's a merciful, unmerited substitution! Jesus fulfills the standard for all who would call Him Lord. And it is the obligation of all God's people to share the knowledge of God's standard with everyone we meet, to correct others in the body of Christ who are erring, and to gather around us God-fearing, standard-loving brothers and sisters who will lovingly and courageously correct us. Why? Because it is our greatest aim to be more like Jesus! Judge me please, because if I'm not on the right path to be like Jesus, I need to be corrected! Judgment according to God's standard is a blessing!

That is a lot of blood just to clean up someone else's mess. But Jesus did it. Shouldn't everyone know?