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My God, the Stomach?

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Php. 3:18-20 For there are many, of whom I have often told you and now tell you even with tears, who walk (live) as enemies of the cross of Christ (the Anointed One). They are doomed and their fate is eternal misery (perdition); their god is their stomach (their appetites, their sensuality) and they glory in their shame, siding with earthly things and being of their party. But we are citizens of the state (commonwealth, homeland) which is in heaven, and from it also we earnestly and patiently await [the coming of] the Lord Jesus Christ (the Messiah) [as] Savior,…AMPC

We are all familiar with Genesis 3 and how Adam and Eve got distracted by forbidden fruit. It didn’t matter that they were allowed to eat from all the other trees in the Garden – they had to have the forbidden fruit. In Genesis 3:19 Adam is cursed to continue eating food but under one condition: his food will be supplied through the sweat of his brow, or his own self-efforts. In Genesis 25 we discover the older brother of Jacob hungry for some red lentil stew. The price of the soup? The birthright of the firstborn.

According to Paul the enemies of the Cross of Christ (Anointed One of the Spirit) are those whose stomach comes first – their appetites, and sensuality. Sensuality is simply defined as the condition of being pleasing or fulfilling to the senses. What’s truly amazing? Is that throughout the Bible God meets us in our sensuality to redeem us from the curse it brings. You find His offers of redemption from the story of Ruth of Bethlehem, to the announcement of His birth to lowly shepherds. Ruth is gathering barley to feed her and her mother-in-law, Naomi. Shepherds are grazing sheep near the House of Bread – Bethlehem – overseeing sheep who do what they do best: eat. All are hungry for more not realizing the Bread of Life is the only thing that is ever going to truly satisfy them. We’ve all gone to the cafeterias, potlucks, and family reunions where our eyes were bigger than our stomachs. We piled our plates with food and desert, gorging on what our eyes delighted. Moments later we find ourselves feeling over stuffed and miserable. Which raises some interesting questions: Do you eat more physical food than spiritual? What qualifies as spiritual food? and Is there some spiritual food that is actually bad for you?

We have an idiom in our culture that expresses a profound truth: What’s eating you? Which is another way of saying, What are you worried or concerned about? But taking into account our previous discussion we can use that expression as a way of asking, Are the desires of my senses actually devouring my life? Are my desires being fueled by my senses or by eternal things?

Humility of Hunger

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By the year 2030 30% of the inhabitants of Sub-Saharan Africa will have the highest rate of undernourishment in the world. In the documentary, The Most Dangerous Ways To School, Massai children, ages 4-11, are recorded as having walked from 10-20 kilometers (6-12 miles), one way – each day, in order to attend school. Many walk these distances with no food in their bellies, facing the constant threat of attacks from Elephants, Leopards, Lions, and alligators which inhabit the only source of drinking water for miles.

Jesus hungered following His forty days without food. When tempted to make bread from stones, Jesus quoted Deuteronomy 8:3 Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. Cross referencing this passage of Scripture you receive greater insight into the purpose of fasting:  2 And you shall remember that the Lord your God led you all the way these forty years in the wilderness, to humble you and test you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not. 3 So He humbled you, allowed you to hunger, and fed you with manna which you did not know nor did your fathers know, that He might make you know that man shall not live by bread alone; but man lives by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the Lord.

Fasting reminds us to humble ourselves along with the worlds population that goes to bed hungry many a night. Fasting reminds us what we really should be living for – the Words that proceed out of the Mouth of God; Heaven’s Manna. Fasting reminds us what’s really in our hearts.

Yesterday I asked, How can we go outside the camp to meet Jesus? We meet Jesus outside the camp when we humble ourselves through prayer, and fasting, going without food in order that we might position ourselves to live only for the words that proceed from the mouth of God.