Have you ever heard the phrase, "You are what you eat"? It's supposed to apply to our bad eating habits. For example, if all you eat are Twinkies, you will eventually become one. Not really, but you know what I mean. The point of the phrase is, if you want to be healthy, eat healthy things.
This phrase extends WAY beyond our diet though. Our phones are a perfect example of this. We can spend a WHOLE lot of time on those things. I am guilty of that. If we really think about it, are we not merely entertaining ourselves because we're bored?
Another "branch" in this Y.A.W.Y.E. character study is the music we listen to. I have written here before about songs that fill the head throughout the day (and night). What we consume tends to fill us.
Our belief in Jesus is the same.
"I am the bread of life." - John 6:48
Jesus then went on to say that we must "consume" HIM.
"Jesus said to them, “Very truly I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. ⁵⁴Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day. ⁵⁵For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. ⁵⁶Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in them." - John 6:53-56
Jesus is telling us to CONSUME who He is. To copy Him. This practice is carried out during communion in our churches.
"And He took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” ²⁰And likewise the cup after they had eaten, saying, “This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood." - Luke 22:19-20
Paul later confirmed this, using a phrase attributed to Epimenides of Crete while speaking in the Areopagus in Athens.
"In him we live and move and have our being." - Acts 17:28
We are what we eat. We become what we consume. May I suggest that we put down our phones and pick up our Bibles? Let us consume God's word. Live it. Move in it. And let us become who God wants us to be - His.
What consumes YOU?
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