When food is our god …

Human beings have historically done a lousy job of applying the right value to things, or even people.

Stephen Kingsley takes a blibcal slant on a story Stan Schroeder wrote for Mashable.com that illustrates how we can easily mistake what is valuable …

One Fall day in October of 2013, Banksy the artist set up a display in New York’s Central Park. A sign indicated that each piece, painted with black paint on white canvas, was available for $60 each. He sat beside his work for most of the day as occasionally, a busy passerby stopped to look at his work.

After several hours, he managed to sell a couple of pieces to a lady who talked him into selling two small prints at half price. He closed up shop by 6 p.m. having sold $420 worth of paintings. Not bad by most standards. But what no one seemed to realize was who this artist was and the great value of his work.

In recent years investors have paid close to $2 million dollars to own a Banksy original. Why did he set up shop in Central Park that day? He did not bother to explain, but perhaps only to give us pause to consider our value system.

It takes special insight to understand the true value of a work of art. Similarly, it takes divine insight to understand the true worth and value of every human being.

Ephesians 2:10 says, “But we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God has before prepared that we should walk in them.”

The Greek word for workmanship is poiema, which simply means “a thing made.” A “thing made” may not seem so valuable until you consider who made us. It’s whose workmanship we are that makes each of us a masterpiece, worth far more than the world will ever know.

When we value God above all else, we can see the value He has given us — He considers us to be His masterpieces! Yet, we humans are famous for applying the wrong value to things, and for many of us we have made food our god. The Apostle Paul mentions this mis-valuing of our nutrition this way …

“Their destiny is destruction, their god is their stomach, and their glory is in their shame. Their mind is set on earthly things,” Philippians 3:19 (NASB).

The New Living Translation phrases this verse as follows, “They are headed for destruction. Their god is their appetite, they brag about shameful things, and they think only about this life here on earth.”

Check out how The Message phrases this passage, “All they want is easy street. They hate Christ’s Cross. But easy street is a dead-end street. Those who live there make their bellies their gods; belches are their praise; all they can think of is their appetites.”

Why is it that so many of us have gluttonous habits regarding our food?

It’s not just a lack of self-discipline (which is a common problem), there’s a spiritual component to the problem of overeating, which is mis-valuing our food, ourselves, and our Creator. As Paul reveals, when we mis-value God, we cannot see ourselves as being the masterpieces He has made us to be, so we over-value other things — such as our appetites — and thus, glory in pleasuring our bellies.

Belches become our praise.

And a lack of personal fitness, and even failing health are the results of our applying the wrong values to food, ourselves, and God.

When food is our god, we do harm to ourselves in more ways than one. That’s because God never intended for food to hold such value in our lives …

“But Jesus told him, ‘No! The Scriptures say, “People do not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God,” Matthew 4:4.

Too many of us live our lives thinking about the next meal. We find more pleasure in filling our stomachs than in communing with God. And we don’t take as important what we’re doing to our bodies while reveling in our bellies.

Has your appetite become your god? Or do you see the value God has given you, and because of that see how your care for your body — and what you feed it — as the stewardship of a masterpiece?

Scotty