Food, Glorious Food

My very favorite meal in the whole wide world, bar none, consists of the following:

Pan-fried catfish, fresh-caught from Kings River
Pan-fried taters, nice and really brown
Corn on the cob, fresh-picked and boiled, slathered with butter and salt
Fresh green beans with the life cooked out of 'em, seasoned with a little bacon
Fresh homegrown tomatoes
Hot cornbread (not the sweet kind) with plenty of butter
Pinto beans cooked all day in a big pot
Wilted lettuce (without sugar) with lots of green onions and radishes
Huckleberry cobbler for dessert
Iced Tea with lemon

There's a reason folks with roots in the South many times have weight problems. I'm stuffed just reading that menu, but there was a time when I could and did eat more than my fair share of all of the above.

And I knew it was good.

That's the thing about food. It's a necessity, sure. But it's a gift to us humans as well. We don't feel the same way about anything else on earth as we do about food.

We need air to breathe, yet you don't see people coming up with different recipes or ways to make it more appetizing. We don't even THINK about oxygen. We just keep on breathing in and out, oblivious to the wonders of it. You never hear of someone bloating up with air because they breathed too much, now do you? Nope. Ain't gonna happen.

And what about hearing? I suppose you could argue that music is "ear food," but it just isn't the same. There are no documented cases of anyone emitting gas from their ears because they've listened to too much music. If indeed it did happen, could you imagine the excuses? "Uh, sorry. That Bach fugue was a little too loud." Again, not happening.

I have heard of certain types of people who are known as "eye candy" (Robert Redford), but I've never heard of eye candy (Matthew McConaughey) becoming a detriment to your health. On the contrary, eye candy (George Clooney) may keep those orbs exercised and working well. It certainly won't make them fat. But again, no caloric value.

Last, but not least, there's touch. Now granted, you probably COULD bury yourself in, say, a vat of chocolate pudding just for grins. However, unless the pores of your skin are really suckin' it in that day, chances are you aren't gonna gain a pound. Not through osmosis, anyway. And although it might feel nice and creamy against your skin, I guarantee that if you rub it in and leave it there it's NOT going anywhere. But other people might. Like away from you. Because after all, rubbing chocolate pudding into your skin is just, well, WEIRD.

My point is this.

God gave us food to nourish us. To fill our gas tanks. To provide energy for us so that we can live and move and breathe and touch and smell and see and hear all the goodness around us. He made it for fuel for our bodies.

But God also gave us this wonderful, sensational tasting mechanism. Because of it, we can not only gas up the tank, but enjoy doing it. And enjoy it we do! Again and again and again. Sometimes until we absolutely cannot breathe because we are so stuffed. That's part of what free will is, unfortunately.

But folks, let's face it. God also was smart enough to give us common sense, whether we want to admit it or not. Can you imagine me "enjoying" the type of meal I listed above more than once a year without some major type of heart disease taking place? Now, having parents who were born and raised in the South, meals such as that were common fare as I was growing up. And because I wanted to get more attention from my daddy when I was young, I tried to impress him by eating just as much as I possibly could just as fast as I possibly could at mealtime.

Let's just say I have always been challenged when it comes to both common sense and my weight.

It's taken me all these years to finally learn what God has been trying to patiently teach me all my life in this area. Yes, food is good. But guess what? Here's what food isn't: a reward, a treat, a comfort, a placebo, a pastime, a celebration, or a game. Here's what food is: fuel for my body. Period.

And that's the way it has to be for me.

Because otherwise, you know, I'll end up weighing 564 pounds when I die from heart disease at the young age of 55. And it ain't gonna happen. At least not that way, if I have anything to say about it.

Why did it take so long for me to learn this? Why was I so stubborn? Why did I WASTE all those years I could've been healthy? I have no clue. Just as I have no clue why I waited so long to come around to the fact that I really was a sinner in need of a Savior. Again, why did it take so long for me to learn this? Why was I so stubborn? Why did I WASTE all those years I could've been loving GOD???

I guess those are questions I'll have to get answers to when I see Him face to face. Until then I'll just muddle through, doing the best I can here on earth, trying to use what little common sense I have. Lord, help us all!

And hey, would someone please pass the wilted lettuce?

Philippians 3:13-14
No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us. (NLT)