Christianity Oasis Forum

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January 3
Saturday


EATING AS
WORSHIP

READ:
Genesis 2:8-17
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Have you found honey?
Eat only a much as
you need.
__Proverbs
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When you walk into the bookstore and see a table filled with books on dieting, you know it must be January. After several weeks of overeating all kinds of holiday foods, people in many cultures turn their attention to not eating.

Food plays an important role in Scripture. God uses it not only to bless us but also to teach us. Our misuse of food keeps us from knowing God in ways He wants to be known.

In the Old Testament, God gave instructions to Adam as to what to eat and what not to eat. (Gen 2:16-17). Later he gave the Israelites manna to convince them that He was God and to test them to find out if they believed Him (Ex. 16:12; Deut. 8:16). In the New Testament, the apostle Paul stated the proper attitude for everything we do, including eating: "Whether you eat or drink.... do all to the glory of God" (1 Cor. 10:31).

When we think of food as a friend that comforts us or an enemy that makes us fat, we miss the wonder of receiving with gratitude a splendid gift from God. Obsessive eating or not eating indicates that we are focused on the gift rather than on the Giver, which is a form of idolatry.

When eating becomes a true act of worship, we will no longer worship food. __Julie Ackermam Link
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```````````````````You alone are worthy, Lord,```````````````````
``````````````````To be worshiped and adored;```````````````````
``````````````````We to You our tribute bring````````````````````
`````````````As our hearts rejoice and sing. __Hess```````````````
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When food becomes our god,
our appetite for the Bread of Life is diminished.

**************Today's Bible Reading __ Genesis 2:8-17************

8 The LORD God planted a
garden eastward in Eden,
and there He put the man
whom He had formed.

9 And out of the ground the
LORD God made every tree
grow that is pleasant to the sight
and good for food.

The tree of life was also in
the midst of the garden, and
the tree of the knowledge of
good and evil.

10 Now a river went out of
Eden to water the garden
and from there it parted
and became four riverheads.

11 The name of the first is
Pishon; it is the one which
skirts the whole land of
Havilah, where there is
gold. 12 And the gold of that
land is good. Bdellium and
the onyx stone are there.

13 The name of the second
river is Gihon; it is the one
which goes around the
whole land of Cush. 14 The
name of the third river is
Hiddekel; it is the one
which goes toward the east
of Assyria. The fourth river
is the Euphrates.

15 Then the LORD God
took the man and put him
in the garden of Eden to
tend and keep it. 16 And the
LORD God commanded the
man, saying, "Of every tree
of the garden you may
freely eat; 17 but of the tree
of the knowledge of good
and evil you shall not eat,
for in the day that you eat
of it you shall surely die."

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>INSIGHT<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<

The garden of Eden was marked by three great expressions of
the character of the creator God. His peace is implied in the
relationship between man and the animal realm (Gen. 2:19-20). His
provision is seen in the food God supplied for the man and woman
(v.9). His presence is seen in the communion God shared with them
(3:8). __Bill Crowder