Nurturing Power of Food

The book took the "first two bites" and talked about how all the emotional power that we get only come from these two bits as well:

"If you're eating as a way to feel nurtured or calmed, you'll usually experience some level of those feelings right away. But continuing to eat won't bring any more satisfaction or make you feel better. In fact, at some point you'll probably begin to feel frustrated and disappointed with your behavior instead of being healed by food."

Generally, with anything compulsive that you do to "soothe" yourself, you general feel like shit after. This includes eating but can also include drinking, shopping, etc. I was thinking about it, and I know I am a bored eater. When I have nothing to do (or at least feel like I have nothing to do), I will tend to munch. This was very much exemplified to me when I was at home this past Christmas and I would walk out of my room (after watching Desperate Housewives) and open the fridge and peer in to see what was there. I did this four or five times during that day until I realized what I was doing.

I don't think I generally use food to soothe myself if I'm upset...sometimes when I'm stressed, but I think that's the boredom of work mixed with the accessibility of bad foods. Hm. I'll have to really think about that. I do think shopping is something compulsive I used to do (and still do on occasion) to soothe myself. Now that I have a budget, I do it on a smaller scale and I tend to feel guilty during and put stuff back. Before, I would buy it all, then have guilt, and take it back. The nice thing about that vs. a tub of ice cream is that I could literally take it back while with food, you can't.

Anyway, I'm gonna keep an eye on that whole emotional eating thing and see if it's something I do :)

"Therefore, the promise comes by faith, so that it may be by grace and may be guaranteed to all Abraham's offspring--not only to those who are of the law but also to those who are of the faith to Abraham. He is the father of us all. As it is written: 'I have made you a father of many nations.' He is our father in the sight of God, in whom he believed--the God who gives life to the dead and calls things that are not as though they were." Romans 4:16-17

I love how this chapter points out that Abraham had the works. It says "Abraham was justified by works, he had something to boast about---but not before God." He was apparently a "righteous" man according to a lot of people...even according to this scripture. But what makes him righteous before God? "Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness." He believed God. He heard a voice, saw something, felt something, I dunno. But he believed and responded to whatever he heard, saw, or felt. That's what made him righteous. Not the step by step, doing everything right. It was those moments of response to what God called him to.

That is very cool stuff right there. It gives even more weight to the last part of verse 17 that says "the God who gives life to the dead and calls things that are not as though they were." How is God calling and speaking to people in life? How is he calling and speaking to me. How many people is he speaking to, that have no idea that it's Jesus? I mean, that's mind blowing and incredibly wonderful to think that God reaches out to us in any and every way possible. Abraham didn't know shit about Jesus. But his response to God was credited to him as righteousness. His faith in this unknown power, which became known as God or Yahweh or Elohim, became something real and he believed and acted up on. It give me hope for people who might have never known Jesus' name. It gives me hope for our generation who God wants to reach and speak to but because of the evil done in the name of Christ and Christianity it's virtually impossible to reach them. It gives me hope to know that God is trying to reach them. That Christ is reaching out to them and loving them and speaking to them.