Eat This Book
In the 1800s, French lawyer Anthelme Brillat-Savarin coined the phrase, “Dis-moi ce que tu manges, je te dirai ce que tu es,” or “Tell me what you eat and I will tell you what you are.” A few decades later German philosopher Ludwig Andreas Feuerbach would continue with the idea in his book, Der Mensch ist, was er ißt, or Man is What He Eats. In the 1930s, the phrase emerged in English from an American nutritionist, Victor Lindlahr, and in the 1960s it became an American slogan for healthy eating promoting the idea that the food we consume affects our health and state of mind (Myers). Bottom line, “You are what you eat.”
The thing about letting yourself go is that it never happens overnight. You steadily make not-so-healthy choices and all of a sudden you look up one day and do not recognize yourself. The Children of Israel were finally living in the Promised Land, freed from bondage in Egypt, all thanks to the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. They had not entered the Promised Land with the intention of following in the way of the Canaanites nor did they immediately start sacrificing their children on pagan altars, or worshipping idols. No, they made one sinful choice after another. Surrounded by pagan culture, they ate it up, bit by bit, each bite of idol worship further separating them from God. They indulged and overindulged in divination, seeking omens and building high places and before they knew it, they were guilty of the very same things that brought God's judgment upon the Canaanites (2 Kings 17: 8-15).
Scripture rarely just comes out and says, “Don’t do this.” Instead, the Bible presents stories about those who did wrong so that the reader can see the consequences of sin and disobedience. God does not condone the bad behavior we read about in scripture, but He does want us to learn from the mistakes of others. These true stories are helpful depictions of what “not to do” and yet we still find ourselves doing these things. Instead of eating the Bread of Life, we eat up the ways of the world. The culture offers us delicious options, and we eat, eat, eat! We overindulge in television, entertainment, gossip blogs, and social media. We dedicate ourselves to our organizations, our careers, our pagan interests. We worship our material possessions and accomplishments, political figures, and celebrities so much so that we become as worthless as the idols we uphold. Maybe we think we are better or different than our biblical examples, but we are not. We are the same, actually, we are worse. We have the Bible. We can eat this Book! We can feast on it day and night! We can indulge and overindulge in Daily Bread. We can submit to the Holy Spirit and allow Him to guide us through the Word so that, instead of becoming like the world around us, we become more like the One who laid down His life for us.
You are what you eat. So, if you do not consume the Word of God, you are not righteous, you are not holy, you are not set apart. One small compromise after another will lead you to normalizing sin. Things that once made you clutch your pearls will become things you take part in, celebrate, and condone. Do not let yourself go. Do not eat so much world that neither you nor God can recognize you. You were created in God's image, to be in relationship with Him (Gen. 1:27). The more you seek after God, the more like Him you become. But when you fill yourself with carnal things, your spiritual health and state of mind are affected and you become less of who you were created to be.
The Israelites would never participate in pagan worship, until they did. We are not special; we are not different. We are all only a few choices away from completely glorifying what God condemns.
The sin of God's people had led them to be captured by their enemies. But thirty-seven years into the Babylonian captivity Jehoiachin, King of Judah, was released from prison. Though still considered a prisoner, Jehoiachin was shown favor by the King, even given special treatment in Babylon (2 Kings 25:27-30). Why does 2 Kings end like this? A glimmer of hope, maybe? King Jehoiachin was a representative of King David’s dynasty and an ancestor of Jesus Christ. God’s grace was still upon His people, even when they had done the worst. We have done the worst. Even the best of us is as filthy rags and yet there is hope in Jesus Christ. We have a chance to accept God's grace and become like the Savior. Read and study the Holy Bible, which is the Word of God. Seek understanding and apply the principles of scripture to your lives. You are what you eat, so, Eat this Book.
