Vegans and vegetarians have opted not to eat meat for various reasons, the two primary being health and ethics. However, this has not taken away the craving or desire to enjoy meat products: a burger, hot dog, or turkey breast. Hence, the meat substitute––a plant-based product that fits the profile and solves the problem.
I needed this reminder, because, as I think I have shared before, I have an unhealthy relationship with food. It is my go-to remedy for just about everything: boredom, sadness, irritation, celebration. I don’t need a meat substitute. I need a food substitute.
I remember voicing these very words aloud one day in prayer, when an immediate, “My Word” came flying back at me.
Now, I know I will get hungry and need to eat, but Jesus during his temptation told Satan that “‘Man shall not live on bread alone… but on every word that comes from the mouth of God’” (Matthew 4:4).
Bread, physical sustenance, is what keeps the body functioning. But God’s word is what keeps us spiritually . . . and mentally . . . healthy and functioning properly. My go to for boredom, sadness, irritation, celebration––for sustenance should be God’s word first.
God does not want me to remain hungry — in any sense — but he does want my satisfaction to come from true fulfillment: Good, healthy, life-sustaining food for the body, and the bread of life and the living water for the spirit.
And our search for satisfaction is not always limited to food. We look for it in so many ultimately unsatisfying ways. As Alister Begg said in a February 13 devotion: “We will never be as satisfied in life as when we discover our ultimate reality in Christ.”
Likewise 17th-century mathematician and theologian Blaise Pascal said, “There is a God-shaped vacuum in the heart of each man which cannot be satisfied by any created thing but only by God the Creator, made known through Jesus Christ.”
Another person put it this way: “Trying to fill the God-sized hole in our hearts with things other than God is like trying to fill the Grand Canyon with marbles.”
So as we go forward, let’s try not to consume empty calories—both physically and spiritually.
I needed this reminder, because, as I think I have shared before, I have an unhealthy relationship with food. It is my go-to remedy for just about everything: boredom, sadness, irritation, celebration. I don’t need a meat substitute. I need a food substitute.
I remember voicing these very words aloud one day in prayer, when an immediate, “My Word” came flying back at me.
Now, I know I will get hungry and need to eat, but Jesus during his temptation told Satan that “‘Man shall not live on bread alone… but on every word that comes from the mouth of God’” (Matthew 4:4).
Bread, physical sustenance, is what keeps the body functioning. But God’s word is what keeps us spiritually . . . and mentally . . . healthy and functioning properly. My go to for boredom, sadness, irritation, celebration––for sustenance should be God’s word first.
God does not want me to remain hungry — in any sense — but he does want my satisfaction to come from true fulfillment: Good, healthy, life-sustaining food for the body, and the bread of life and the living water for the spirit.
And our search for satisfaction is not always limited to food. We look for it in so many ultimately unsatisfying ways. As Alister Begg said in a February 13 devotion: “We will never be as satisfied in life as when we discover our ultimate reality in Christ.”
Likewise 17th-century mathematician and theologian Blaise Pascal said, “There is a God-shaped vacuum in the heart of each man which cannot be satisfied by any created thing but only by God the Creator, made known through Jesus Christ.”
Another person put it this way: “Trying to fill the God-sized hole in our hearts with things other than God is like trying to fill the Grand Canyon with marbles.”
So as we go forward, let’s try not to consume empty calories—both physically and spiritually.
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