FOOD 10: SOUL FOOD

To express deep emotion we often use the language of food. This is certainly true of sexual love – see the Song of Songs for evidence of this! It is also true of spiritual matters (and of course, real sex is spiritual). Jesus used food language to describe himself and his mission:

John 6:48-50 I am the bread of life. Your forefathers ate the manna in the desert, yet they died. But here is the bread that comes down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live for ever.

John 6:57 Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me.

Using the illustration of food makes Jesus’ point graphically clear. Being a Christian isn’t simply a matter of believing a few truths about God; it means a feasting upon him. This isn’t abstract and intellectual, it is earthy and solid – it is meant to get you in the guts!

Our desire for God should be like our desire for food:

1 Peter 2:2-3 Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, now that you have tasted that the Lord is good.

Our relationship with God is about craving and tasting, not mincing around with the occasional delicate sip from a cup labelled “spirituality.” Eat well; don’t be a spiritual anorexic.