Psalm 78:25 Men ate the bread of angels; he sent them all the food they could eat.
Obesity is a serious problem here in the United States. Too many restaurants offer all-you-can-eat buffets, which causes diners to overeat and do what we would call in Scotland as “pigging out.” I had never seen so many people who were way too much overweight until I came to the United States. I’ve even fallen foul to this type of eating and maybe one day my heart will pay the price for my gluttony. I hope not, but unless I do something about it, my weight gain will never be lost.
It’s also a touchy subject with many people. Pastors, like me, can preach about morality, society, spirituality, hypocrisy, and even heresy, but I’ve never once heard a sermon on the sinfulness of gluttony and the unhealthiness of obesity. That would be too close to the bone and over-meddling in the personal lives of church members. It’s also very hard to preach what you don’t personally practice!
The sadness is that obesity has reached epidemic status in the United States and the lifespan of our children and grandchildren is going to be much shorter than those of previous generations. Unless we do something about this, with the Church’s blessing and support, we’re going to condemn future generations to earlier heart attacks, premature diabetes, and kidney failure.
When God supplied the Hebrew people with all they could eat, it was to give them enough calories, nutrients, and proteins to get them through a busy, laborious, and exhausting day. They were constantly on the move and very active. The fact that they survived being in the wilderness for forty years testifies not only to God’s sustaining power, but also of their rustic agility and natural strength.
I need to begin to take my health seriously, to eat less, exercise more, and get back into shape. No one else can do it for me. The power to change comes from within. And if I do succeed, maybe then I’ll be able to preach a sermon on obesity and help something else.
Prayer: Lord Jesus, we confess to over-eating and of constantly indulging ourselves. We forget that our bodies are temples that testify to the glory of God. Forgive our gluttony and empower us to accept the challenges of the changes we have to make. In your Holy name, we humbly pray. Amen.
John Stuart is the pastor of Erin Presbyterian church in Knoxville, Tennessee. If you would like to comment on today’s message, please send him an email to pastor@erinpresbyterian.org.
Today’s image is taken from John’s Psalms series. It depicts a verse from Psalm 78. If you would like to view a larger version, please click the following link: http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3628/3593222417_974d65cd03_b.jpg
2 comments:
My relationship with food is something that I have tried to recently deal with. It is somewhat of an idol as I turn to it to deal with anxiety and other emotions rather than turning to God. I agree with your assessment concerning obesity in the US of A. I feel gluttony is sinful in the least simply because it is not healthy for us and thus we are being bad stewards of our bodies, and also because in a world where so many go hungry it is very self indulgent and self centered to pig out on a regular basis.
"I had never seen so many people who were way too much overweight until I came to the United States." I am completely in agreement with that. There's a really fascinating debate that I thought would be of interest on evolution vs. intelligent design going on at http://www.intelligentdesignfacts.com
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