Food Glorious Food
by Denise Cross
When God created mankind He knew that man would need nourishment for body, soul and spirit. The physical food He provided in the Garden of Eden looked fabulous as well as being all that was necessary to sustain physical life. God’s provision was more than just enough for existence; mankind enjoyed the look (and presumably the taste) of the food so that his soul felt satisfied and responded with delight.
In addition the fact of God’s generous provision showed God’s great delight in His new creation. He wanted mankind to know he was cared for and valued, and this truth would feed his spirit and give him a profound sense of well-being. Mankind was totally fed and he felt loved, wanted, understood and cherished through that provision
The Bible often talks of receiving God’s love and truth, which satisfies the inner hunger for love and security, in terms of the pleasure and satisfaction from eating good physical food.
Psalm 119:103 says ‘How sweet are Your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth’.
In John 6:35 Jesus says ‘I am the bread of life, he who comes to me shall never hunger and he who believes in me shall never thirst’.
Proverbs 16:24 says ‘Pleasant words are like honeycomb, sweetness to the soul and health to the bones’.
Psalm 23:5 says ‘[He] prepares a table before us in the presence of our enemies’.
In Psalm 103, a psalm that speaks of God’s desire to heal all our diseases, verse 5 says that He is the Lord who ‘satisfies your mouth with good things’.
God provides food for every part of us. Physical appetite is God-given because we need physical nourishment and God has made us like that. But should we be more aware of our spiritual hunger? Are we eating enough of the spiritual food or do we try to get all our hungry feelings met by eating physical food? ‘Taste and see that the Lord He is good’Psalm 34:8.
Prayer: Lord Jesus, Thank You for Your provision of physical food that sustains our lives and is a pleasure to us. Forgive us if we focus too much on the importance of this physical hunger and ignore the deeper spiritual hunger which You want to satisfy with Your love and truth. We pray this in Jesus’ mighty name. Amen.
Denise Cross is married to David Cross and they have three grown up children and eight grandchildren. Denise was previously a Maths teacher and now delights to teach the Lord’s wonderfully logical truth. Her passion is to stir the hearts of passive believers to appropriate all the benefits of abundant life that our Heavenly Father freely offers to each of His children. Her book Rescue from Rejection has been appreciated by many people, in bringing clear answers to this challenging and widespread issue.
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