Honouring God with food

                                                               pic from web source
Author: Hephzi
Edited by: Dan

Merry Christmas to you all !!

Christmas is the time for food, celebrations, office parties, family dinners, food , food and lots of food where ever you go! It is the time of the year where we overindulge in food. We find too many foods and desserts to choose from. Turkey dinners, Christmas cakes, yule log, cookies, candy cane, ginger bread house and other food associated to christmas.

                                                               pic from web source
How can we glorify the lord with the food? Well, I thought of four ways to honour the lord with the food.
1. Share your food - As Christmas is fast approaching, everyone rushing to find the perfect gift ,to give to the loved ones. I am not against gift giving, but It's hard to find the perfect present and please /satisfy someone with our gifts, and neither we'll be happy with what we get. But we can definately satisfy less fortunate, hungry person with the food. You cannot go wrong with feeding the hungry. "A generous man will himself be blessed, for he shares his food with the poor".Proverbs 29:7

Secondly, if you are buying a gift for your own family member, your money, joy , happiness is dwindling around you and your family. Did we ever think about reaching out and spreading the love and joy of christmas to the less fortunate?

For a hungry man who is starving on the street, an expensive gift from a costly showroom will not be of any use. Feeding someone hungry from your riches is a blessed act and it brings glory and honour to the lord. For the lord will say...."For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink...." Matthew 25:35 Whoever is generous to the poor lends to the Lord, and he will repay him for his deed.

"Do not go over your vineyard a second time or pick up the grapes that have fallen. Leave them for the poor and the alien. I am the LORD your God." Leviticus 19:10

"If there is a poor man among your brothers in any of the towns of the land that the LORD your God is giving you, do not be hardhearted or tightfisted toward your poor brother." Deuteronomy 15:7

2. Home grown produce - "Honor the Lord with your wealth and with the first fruits of all your produce; then your barns will be filled with plenty, and your vats will be bursting with wine".—Proverbs 3:9-10

Thanksgiving in America has a totally different concept , the family members meet together, cook a big dinner and enjoy it together. Whereas, in India, people participate in a special thanksgiving service held at the churches and give thanks to the God, for blessing all through the year and keeping safe. It is a ritual in the churches in India to celebrate with fellow christians and with other families, bringing home cooked food, home grown produce to the church and sell them. All the proceeds go to the church and used for the God's service. It is such a carnival atmosphere. Honouring the God with the bounty or what ever you have is a wonderful way to give it back to the God.

                                                          Pic from web source
3. Grace before meals - "Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures forever". Ps 107: 1

When I was a child, I remember when my entire family was sitting around the table, my parents checked us to make sure we were all joining in to say the prayers. Its our family and religious tradition to give grace before meals. We, as children felt, why can't we just eat the food? Why should we give importance to such rituals? But now I thank my parents for making it my habit, to give thanks to God before meals.

The point of grace before meals is to honour the lord, to feel touched by his grace.To be part of the divine order of things,for the gift of life; to nurture the body by the fruits of the earth! Only we, as humans , have the previlge to give thanks for what we got.

Many religious practices totally missed out on this point. Many people do not know how to give thanks to the God. Well, we can start now! The simple words overflowing from your heart, realizing his goodness, the feeling of thankfulness that counts. Be creative and customize your prayers, there is no special words required to thank and honour the lord.

                                                             pic from web source
4. Food as nourishment - Like any other addiction, food is also an addiction. Many people are suffering from compulsive eating disorders such as binge eating. Over eating tends to add more calories and weight gain/obesity, and obesity in turn lead to many body illnesses. Our body is the temple of god. This is where God lives. we belong to God, and this human body, in which we live in, belongs to god. we think we can do whatever we want with this body,But this notion is not correct. we are abusing our bodies with too much food, over indulgence can lead to many complications.
"Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are".1Corinthians 3:16,17. Use food only for the nourishment of our bodies and honour and glorify the lord.