There is so much joy to be found in food! I hope to encourage you to explore feeling as I share this perspective.

I was thinking about the marriage between my faith and appetite. This isn’t particularly surprising, as food and faith are probably 2 of the most defining pieces of my identity.

From the fruit in the Garden of Eden to The Last Supper – it seems we ate our way into sin & back to freedom from sin. And personally, I cannot even recall when I learned how to cook. My age was in the single digits. What I do know for a fact is that food occupies a special place close to my heart. It just walks with us through life from beginning to end. Literally!

Before we delve into the goodness of food and what the Bible teaches, let’s dispel a myth: the Bible does not explicitly list seven deadly sins. Food in cast negatively in the context of the second “deadly” sin: (in alphabetical order) gluttony.
For your personal reading: have list from Bibleinfo.com detailing the negative aspects of food as seen in the Bible. Psalm 78:17-19, Philippians 3:19-20, Proverbs 23:1-3, Proverbs 23:19-21 and 1 Corinthians 3:16-17.

Back to the point – when we eat in a way that respects our bodies and communities, extending to our environment, dietary restrictions & food history, there is joy to be found. 1 Corinthians 10:31 says, “Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.”

God wants us to eat.

He designed us to eat.

There’s a joke I’ve heard before – I can’t find it anymore.

It’s about a farmer that wanted to do an experiment to see what happens when his cows can’t eat. He kept having to restart the experiment because the test subject cows kept dying. LOL.

Shall we look at the dramatic scenes in the Bible accompanied by food?

There’s The Last Supper, which would evolve to be the inspiration for how we take communion. Matthew 26:17-30

There’s the miracle of 5 loaves and 2 fish – where Jesus & his disciples fed 5,000 people. (appears in all 4 gospels)

There’s Jesus joining his friends Mary and Martha for dinner in Luke 10:38-42 (sisters to his good friend Lazarus – yes, the one that died temporarily). 

And most famously, Jesus turning water into wine for a wedding party. John 2:1-11

Consumption is at the center of a scene preceding the crucifiction of Jesus, of miracles performed by Christ, and plays a supporting role in many other stories of the Bible.

My hope is your relationship with food is positive.

Eat and be merry.

You know I will!

Ecclesiastes 9:7

7 Go, eat your food with gladness, and drink your wine with a joyful heart, for God has already approved what you do.

Extra credit: Have you read any faith based books on food? Share some with me please!! It’s a genre I’m excited to tap into. 

& an extra foodie joke

A kindergarten teacher gave her class a “show and tell” assignment of bringing something to represent their religion. The first boy got in front of the class and said, “My name is Benjamin and I am Jewish and this is the Star of David.” The second boy got in front of the class and said, “My name is Mary. I’m am Catholic and this is the Crucifix.” The third boy got in front of the class and said, “My name is Tommy and I am Methodist and this a casserole.”

This is an example post, originally published as part of Blogging University. Enroll in one of our ten programs, and start your blog right.

You’re going to publish a post today. Don’t worry about how your blog looks. Don’t worry if you haven’t given it a name yet, or you’re feeling overwhelmed. Just click the “New Post” button, and tell us why you’re here.

Why do this?

• Because it gives new readers context. What are you about? Why should they read your blog?
• Because it will help you focus you own ideas about your blog and what you’d like to do with it.

The post can be short or long, a personal intro to your life or a bloggy mission statement, a manifesto for the future or a simple outline of your the types of things you hope to publish.

To help you get started, here are a few questions:

• Why are you blogging publicly, rather than keeping a personal journal?
• What topics do you think you’ll write about?
• Who would you love to connect with via your blog?
• If you blog successfully throughout the next year, what would you hope to have accomplished?

You’re not locked into any of this; one of the wonderful things about blogs is how they constantly evolve as we learn, grow, and interact with one another — but it’s good to know where and why you started, and articulating your goals may just give you a few other post ideas.

Can’t think how to get started? Just write the first thing that pops into your head. Anne Lamott, author of a book on writing we love, says that you need to give yourself permission to write a “crappy first draft”. Anne makes a great point — just start writing, and worry about editing it later.

When you’re ready to publish, give your post three to five tags that describe your blog’s focus — writing, photography, fiction, parenting, food, cars, movies, sports, whatever. These tags will help others who care about your topics find you in the Reader. Make sure one of the tags is “zerotohero,” so other new bloggers can find you, too.