Is Not Life More than Food?
In my devotions the other day I came across Jesus' question in Matthew 6:25--"Is not life more than food?"
Do you ever have moments when the light suddenly goes on and you realize that when God led you into faith you were entering a whole new realm; you were passing a threshold into an entire different world and life view that simply defies every cultural and intuitive norm? That's what happened to me in reading our Lord's words.
It hit me as I read His words that the intuitive and cultural answer to our Lord's question is the exact opposite of the answer His rhetorical question expects. His expected answer is: "Of course life is more than food!" The world's answer would be: "Are you nuts?"
Intuition and culture would say: "Life is food and clothes, and satisfying our natural appetites for comfort, safety, sustenance, and survival." Jesus says in effect: "No; all those things miss the point. Life is about something more, something different, something counter-intuitive and counter-cultural."
Life is about the soul; the soul in relationship with the God who made it. "What does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses his soul?" Jesus asks in another place. Jesus is a "meaning of life revolutionary." He turns conventional and instinctive "wisdom" on its ear, and sets the soul in an entirely new direction.
Friends, what is your life about? When you got up this morning, in what direction did the compass needle of your soul point instinctively? To food? To exercise? To work? To "looking good"? To concerns and cares and trials and disappointments and plans for fun or recreation or pleasure that you've made for today?
Or to God?
When you have a moment to think, where does your heart turn: inward or outward...or Upward? And if you realize that you haven't had many moments to think, do you determine to create more of them so you can answer the Upward call?
In the end there is only one thing that matters: the state and focus and eternal destiny of your never dying soul in relationship with the God Who created it for His pleasure and your joy. This is what life is all about!
Do you ever have moments when the light suddenly goes on and you realize that when God led you into faith you were entering a whole new realm; you were passing a threshold into an entire different world and life view that simply defies every cultural and intuitive norm? That's what happened to me in reading our Lord's words.
It hit me as I read His words that the intuitive and cultural answer to our Lord's question is the exact opposite of the answer His rhetorical question expects. His expected answer is: "Of course life is more than food!" The world's answer would be: "Are you nuts?"
Intuition and culture would say: "Life is food and clothes, and satisfying our natural appetites for comfort, safety, sustenance, and survival." Jesus says in effect: "No; all those things miss the point. Life is about something more, something different, something counter-intuitive and counter-cultural."
Life is about the soul; the soul in relationship with the God who made it. "What does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses his soul?" Jesus asks in another place. Jesus is a "meaning of life revolutionary." He turns conventional and instinctive "wisdom" on its ear, and sets the soul in an entirely new direction.
Friends, what is your life about? When you got up this morning, in what direction did the compass needle of your soul point instinctively? To food? To exercise? To work? To "looking good"? To concerns and cares and trials and disappointments and plans for fun or recreation or pleasure that you've made for today?
Or to God?
When you have a moment to think, where does your heart turn: inward or outward...or Upward? And if you realize that you haven't had many moments to think, do you determine to create more of them so you can answer the Upward call?
In the end there is only one thing that matters: the state and focus and eternal destiny of your never dying soul in relationship with the God Who created it for His pleasure and your joy. This is what life is all about!
Labels: Hedonism, Materialism, Priorities
posted by Tim Shorey at
7:50 AM
3 Comments:
Pastor, you have given much 'food' for the soul in this post.
It's no wonder the Scriptures contain so many analogies using our desire for food and water to illustrate what our desire for the Lord should be.
"O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you; my flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water.
My soul will be satisfied as with fat and rich food, and my mouth will praise you with joyful lips."
Psalm 63:1,5
"I am the bread of life"....If you knew who I was, you would have asked me for a drink, and I would give you living water ...so that you will never thirst again"...."Come, without money and buy milk and honey"..."Taste and see that the Lord is good"..."..."Lord, when have we given you food or drink?"... Their end in distruction, their god is (the hunger of) their belly.
Simple words for simple folk to understand.
JR
What you, and the Word, are saying is so obvious, even for the world that is fallen. All see decay around occurring, that which is dear even to the depraved such as health, loved ones, good things, fading away. However, the busyness of life, worrying about what we will eat, and what we will drink, and what we will wear, and where we will live, and how we will retire, distract us far too easily. And that which is eternal takes a back seat, filed away as important, but not urgent, and a true and saving perspective is lost, that true view of God, and what really matters, seems far removed.
I am now in the everyday work world, and brothers and sisters, the challenges are real, even for those of us who know much better!
Praise God for His Holy Spirit Who prompts us, calls us, woos us to Himself. Yes, life is much more than food! Jesus is our food, and He is truly enough. Blessings.
Post a Comment
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
<< Home