The GOD Diet
There are literally hundreds of thousands of diets. Some are for losing weight, others for gaining weight, lowering cholesterol, living a long and healthy life, etc. Today I want to investigate The God Diet.
The word diet comes from Old French diete and Medieval Latin dieta meaning “a daily food allowance” (Give us this day our daily bread). The Latin word diaeta and Greek word diaita mean “a way of life, a regimen” (I am the way the truth and the life).
Ever since our mothers were feeding us as infants it seems we always had a propensity for spitting out our vegetables and other foods that were good for us in favor of sweets and things that were not so good for us.
Let’s see if it is any different with the diet God has planned for us? We read this in Ezekiel 2:8 “But you, son of man, hear me when I speak to you and do not rebel like this rebellious house. Open your mouth and eat what I am giving you.” Uh oh……here come the vegetables: Ez 2:10 “He unrolled it before me; it was covered with writing front and back. Written on it was: Lamentation, wailing, woe!” Yuk, who wants Lamentations, wailings and woe? In this life unfortunately there exists death, sorrow and pain, and when we are experiencing these feelings we often cannot see how God can use these for good, but He can. God, who created us, knows the exact best diet to sustain and nourish us.
A diet can be described as a set course of eating and drinking in which the kind and amount of food one should eathas been planned out in order to achieve weight loss or follow a certain lifestyle. God clearly has laid out in scripture a dietary life style for our spiritual well-being.
Some of today’s popular diets include: the Atkins Diet, the Zone Diet, the vegetarian diet, the vegan diet, the Weight Watchers Diet, the South Beach Diet, the Raw Food Diet, and the Mediterranean Diet. Maybe you have tried one or several of these. People have various reasons for choosing a specific diet, and have various degrees of success staying on the diet once they choose one. But far from a popular modern fad diet is the God Diet. No other diet on earth can guarantee eternal life! Knowing this you might think we would all embrace the nutritious meal plan God sets out for us, but we don’t.
Just what does God’s diet plan consist of? It really is quite simple. The entire diet is revealed in Mt 4:4 when Jesus said in reply, “It is written: ‘One does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes forth from the mouth of God.'” In other words God’s diet is revealed in Holy Scripture and in the commandments. In the Old Testament we have this passage in Dt 8:1-3: “Be careful to observe this whole commandment that I enjoin on you today, that you may live and increase, and may enter in and possess the land which the LORD promised on oath to your ancestors.”
Why then are we refusing to eat what God has set out for us? God is in the kitchen preparing the food of life? Will we sit down at the banquet? In Matthew 22:3 we see this: “He dispatched his servants to summon the invited guests to the feast, but they refused to come.” Will you be dining at the Lord’s table today?
Many people today suffer from a serious eating disorder known a anorexia nervosa. People with this illness can experience one or all of these issues: improper restriction of food intake, inappropriate eating habits or rituals, obsession with having a thin figure, and an irrational fear of weight gain, as well as a distorted body self-perception. The result of any of these can have a serious life threatening impact. Likewise, eating from diet plans other than the God Diet can have serious spiritual consequences.
In our modern world we live in a “feel-good culture,” and the food of this feel good culture is materialism and consumerism. Let’s just all admit it, the food of this feel good culture appears much more appetizing to us than God’s scroll with “lamentation and wailing and woe” written all over it. So even though we know God’s commandments and His words in scripture are our most nutritious foods we choose to act foolishly and follow sinful diet plans.
Desire fulfilled delights the soul, but turning from evil is an abomination to fools.
As dogs return to their vomit, so fools repeat their folly.
God gives us free will and allows us to choose our own diet. Unfortunately we often “choose candy from strangers” rather than His choice of meal for us. In other words we all sin; “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23).
What are some of these sinful and unhealthy diet plans we succumb to?
LACK OF FEAR DIET
“There is no fear of God before their eyes” (Romans 3:18).
Do I see God SOLEY as a God of mercy and forgiveness but not also as a God of justice and do I believe I can live life as I please and that there will be no consequences for my sinful behaviors?
DECEPTION DIET
“If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us”
When I am around other Christians do a where a false mask of righteousness as if to say I have no areas of sin in my life? Am I willing to allow others to see the real me, even the broken sinful parts of me, so together we can bring Christ to each other?
PLEASURE DIET
“But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. Then when lust has conceived, it brings forth sin, and sin when it is finished, brings forth death” (James 1:14-15).
Do I look at pornography or engage in other lustful and inappropriate sexual behaviors?
Do I drink to excess or use illegal drugs?
EVIL DIET
“The soul of the wicked desires evil” (Proverbs 21:10).
Do I wish harm to my enemies?
Do I harbor hate andill will towards others?
Are there people I simply refuse to forgive who have harmed me in some way?
FALSE DOCTRINE DIET
“Whoever transgresses and does not abide in the doctrine of Christ does not have God” (1 John 9).
Have I fallen prey to those who distort the Gospel into a feel good prosperity Gospel?
Is money or fame my God?
INFLUENCE DIET
“Do not be deceived: evil company corrupts good habits” (1 Corinthians 15:33).
Do I find myself cursing and using inappropriate language when I am around certain people who also do the same thing?
Do I gossip when I am with friends who also gossip?
During sports seasons do I skip Sunday church to go to sporting events because my friends do too?
DEFIANCE DIET
“If we continue willfully in our sin and don’t repent, we will die in our sins and be lost” (John 8:24). “Let us not be deceived by sin, because the wages of sin is spiritual death in Hell forever” (Romans 6:23).
Do I personally or do I condone others living together as a couple outside of marriage?
My friends our God knows far better than we do what is best for us. He longs for us to have eternal life with Him. Look at his words in scripture:
“Like newborn infants, long for pure spiritual milk so that through it you may grow into salvation,”
We can really only find true peace and spiritual nutrition in this life by pursuing His promises for us by doing His will.
“How sweet to my tongue is your promise, sweeter than honey to my mouth!”
Jesus’ perfect meal plan consists of nothing short of Himself!
“While they were eating, Jesus took bread, said the blessing, broke it, and giving it to his disciples said, ‘Take and eat; this is my body.”
Please allow me for the sake of today’s topic, “The God Diet” to apply a slight adaptation to the first commandment. The first commandment of God is: “I am the Lord thy God; thou shalt not have strange gods before Me.” Exodus 20:3-4
Perhaps it would help us for today to think of this commandment as: I am the Lord thy God the bread of life. I am the only diet that sustains eternal life. Eat my flesh and drink my blood and follow my commands for thou shall eat from no diet other than the one I give.
In conclusion today, once again I ask you, will you be dining at the Lord’s Table today?
You satisfy the hungry heart with gift of finest wheat; come give to us, O saving Lord, The bread of life to eat. Amen!
- Are We There Yet? - September 14, 2024
- Returning to Our Former Ways - September 8, 2024
- The Boxer Makes A Comeback - September 2, 2024