Last year I cheated. I had jumped back on the Eat Right bandwagon after Thanksgiving, but just two weeks in I just couldn’t take it anymore. Despite the fact that I was eating “right”, my flesh still wanted sugar! A few days later I was driving when I heard a preacher on the radio say, “Good things sometimes cross over into sin when we begin using them for purposes God never intended.” The question rang in my head, “What is God’s purpose for food?”
The answer was instant: “To sustain and promote growth and good health.” My next thought was convicting: “The things I WANT to eat do not promote good health!” Having an occasional dessert is not a sin, but eating a diet of fatty foods definitely was not using food for God’s original purpose! I realized my lack of joy was not what was going into my mouth, but what my mind was thinking. I needed a new mindset.
Romans 12:2 says, “Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. THEN you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is – his good, pleasing and perfect will.” (NIV) Applicably speaking, I was being called to “put down the ho-hos and grab a salad” (April Estes version). The way I was thinking had to change. I had to renew the way I was looking at food…not through fleshly eyes, but through godly eyes.
So, before every meal, I thought, “This is a chance for me to get as many foods in my system that are going to make me strong, smarter, fight cancer, etc.” I started focusing on the BENEFITS of the healthy eating, instead of the NEGATIVES. My new mindset made eating the healthy foods seem like a blessing. It made me focus on the joys of healthy eating. Over time, I was even able to not only not miss the bad foods, but also see that eating healthy was reaping good things in my life.
This year, I encourage all of us to look at everything in our lives and ask “Am I using (this) for the purposes God intended?” As our eyes are opened, may we – with renewed eyes – put aside the wrong uses and resolve to use things as God intended!
Sweet Mimosa 