“As the deer pants for
streams of water, so my soul pants for you, O God” (Psalm 42:1 NIV).
Have you ever been extremely thirsty? I
know I have felt this way when I am in the hot sun for awhile. Without water a person
cannot live for long. I read that dehydration when you are overheated can
happen within an hour. The reference above is related to how we are to thirst
for the Lord’s influence in our lives, just as we are driven to drink water
when we are thirsty. The need for Him and His presence in our lives should be
what we pursue more than anything.
I have just read a book that is so
wonderful for those of us who have issues with craving certain foods (sugar for
me). It is called Made to Crave by Lysa TerKeurst. She stated that we
are to crave the Lord more than we crave anything and that if anything else
takes first place instead of God, then it is not good. I happen to be a stress
eater so whenever I get stressed I head for chocolate, cookies, etc. The book
made me so aware that I need to be seeking the Lord’s help when I am stressed
and not rely on food to self-medicate. Maybe you have this problem too, so I
hope you will be inspired to not view food as something to help you with
emotional issues. One verse that is helping me is, “My food,” said Jesus, “is
to do the will of him who sent me and finish his work” (John 4:34 NIV). Doing
the will of the Lord has always been my purpose, and knowing that food has
become a stumbling block has convicted me to really put God first in my life in
everything.
Is
it hard for you to walk away from certain foods? If you said yes then you are
being ruled by food on some level. We are truly supposed to eat to live and
make healthy choices so that we can be healthy to do His will in our lives.
We are the temple of God and we each have a mission from God.
It is so important to keep our temple healthy so we can finish the work God has prepared for us.
Dear Lord,
Help us as we strive to
put you first in our lives. Help us to long for your presence more than
anything, and turn to you when we are in emotional crisis instead of something
that will only gratify us for a little while.
In Jesus’ name,
Amen
