What we focus on becomes our reality. Our thoughts and attitudes shape our days, and
our desires determine the direction of our lives. Some might think this is just the positive
thinking that has been stressed by self-help gurus, but there is scriptural
support for this method of seeking change.
“…I know that he granteth unto men according to their
desire, whether it be unto death or unto life; yea I know that he allotteth
unto men, yea decreeth unto them decrees which are unalterable according to
their wills…” (Alma 29:4)“Delight thyself also in the Lord; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart. Commit thy way unto the Lord; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass.” (Psalm 37:4-5)
I suggest that if this is true, if our thoughts determine
our reality, and I believe they do, then it is our attitude about the food we
eat that makes us fat. This is popularly
termed emotional eating. As I’ve studied
how this applies to me, I have come to some conclusions that go beyond, “I eat
too much because I’m eating for emotional reasons instead of only eating when I’m
hungry.” I can’t possibly put everything
I’ve learned in one essay, so this is the first of many, and where I need to
start is with examining what is food anyway.
I have felt that food was my enemy. It hounds me, controls me, makes me
miserable, even while promising to make me happy. So it betrays me, lies to me, misleads
me. It’s been a long time since it
actually made me happy or lived in the positive part of my thoughts. No wonder it’s a problem.
Food is one of the few things we absolutely must have to
stay alive. Our bodies were made to
depend upon food as a source of energy and nourishment. To have optimum health and function properly,
our bodies need quite an array of vitamins and nutrients. God made our food sources such that we have
to eat a variety of foods to get what we require.
In Genesis 1:29, God said, “I have given you
every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every
tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for
meat.”
In Genesis 2:16-17, he said, “Of
every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat; but of the tree of the
knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it; for in the day that thou eatest
there of thou shalt surely die.”
But
that didn’t stop us. Satan came with his
lies, contradicting God’s warning, and he made the tree look good. He got Eve to desire it. And she ate and got her husband to eat, and
the first confession of sin or transgression was “I did eat.” (Genesis
3:13) And so it began. Eating something that was not to be eaten was
the first temptation Satan used against us.
It was very successful. Is it any
wonder he has continued to employ such a useful tool?
Heavenly Father, however, never meant for food or eating to
be bad for us. It was always His plan
that we would have to eat consistently to live.
In fact, he said, “Thou mayest freely eat.” (Genesis 2:17) In Moses, we learn a little more about the
restriction he placed on that one tree. “…nevertheless,
thou mayest choose for thyself…” (Moses 3:17) and the warning was given that
there would be consequences for making that choice.
God’s lesson on food continues when he chastises Adam and
Eve for eating of the forbidden tree. “…in
sorrow shalt thou eat of [the cursed ground] all the days of thy life…in the
sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread.”
(Genesis 3:17, 19) So we went
from, “Here’s a great and beautiful variety from which you can eat freely,” to “You’re
going to have to work hard so you can eat to stay alive.” We have to do it, but it’s going to be a
chore and really our life’s work to get the bread we need to stay alive.
Food is not only a necessity; it’s a powerful tool for good as
well as evil. It does keep us alive, and
God has given us a huge variety of food to choose from. He provides for us and uses food to remind us
of our blessings. Food is good. It’s wonderful. We should enjoy it, and we should be grateful
for it. We should be grateful for the
part it plays in God’s plan for us — making sure we always have to do something
to stay alive, something that can be pleasurable or not, something that can
demonstrate blessings or not.
When the Israelites left Egypt and went off in search of the
Promised Land, they were told it was a land of milk and honey, “a land of wheat
and barley and vines and fig trees and pomegranates; a land of oil olive and
honey…” (Deuteronomy 8:8), where they could eat without scarceness and lack
nothing, and “when thou hast eaten and art full, then thou shalt bless the Lord
thy God for the good land which he hath given thee.” (Deuteronomy 8:10).
Before the Israelites reached the Promised Land, however,
they spent 40 years wandering in the desert, and they ate manna (meaning what
is it). It was miraculously provided for
them for 40 years. They did have to work
for it. They had to gather it — it was
tiny — and they had to prepare it. But
they never lacked, and it tasted like wafers made with honey — not bad. Manna was a representation of Jesus Christ
(bread from heaven). It was something
given to sustain when taken internally.
It was freely given by the Father.
There was always enough, and they were warned not to take more than they
needed. They needed to use it correctly
and be grateful for it.
Food was never meant to be bad or a burden, even though we
have to work for it. Satan has taken a
great gift from God and turned it against us.
He uses it to keep us away from Heavenly Father. He makes of it a distraction, a weapon, a
false god even. It’s all in our attitude
— how we think of food. It is either something
Satan uses against us, or it is something Heavenly Father blesses us with. The decision is ours.
Why do we bless our food?
Is it to make it safe? If that
were the case, we wouldn’t be careful to not eat food that has spoiled or for
some other reason would make us sick. Is
it to make it taste good? We choose to
eat what we already believe tastes good.
We should in the blessing give thanks for the food we are about to eat,
but what is the blessing? What we have a
habit of saying is that it nourish and strengthen our bodies. Some mock saying that kind of a prayer over
something known to not be nutritious, such as donuts or cake and ice
cream. Maybe we should not mock
that. Maybe we should have the attitude
that God is all-powerful and can do whatever he wants to do, include bless any
food to nourish and strengthen our bodies.
If we truly believe what we are about to eat is not good for our bodies,
maybe we shouldn’t eat it. Remember, our
attitude about food is what makes us fat.
That doesn’t mean that we should eat all kinds of junk and expect that
our prayer will make it healthy for us and there will be no consequences. In future writings, I will address how the right attitude about food will actually change what we want to eat and therefore lead us to make healthier choices, but for now, I think we should adopt the attitude that what we eat is going to be good for us, because we want to create that positive relationship with food. We want to create that reality for ourselves. God blessed the tiny flakes the Israelites referred to as manna so that it nourished and strengthened their bodies every day for 40 years. He did not have to give them a variety of fruits and vegetables and whole grains. He blessed what he gave them.
We need to realize that the diets based on today’s
scientific facts, which will most likely change again at some point in our
lifetime, just as they already have many times in mine, are not necessarily
what we need to have a good, healthy, happy, blessed relationship with
food. The desire for that kind of
relationship with food can make it so.
We have to follow God’s laws and act in faith, and he will bless us
according to our desires and his will.
We must truly come to believe that food is not our enemy. We can enjoy it. We can be free from obsessive thoughts about
food. We can eat and be healthy. We can eat and be a healthy size and
shape. We can let go of the need to eat
too much and be happy with just enough.
Eating can and should be a spiritual experience. Desire it, pray for it, have faith, and it
will be so.
