“Join with others in following my
example, brothers, and take note of those who live according to the pattern we
gave you. For, I have often told you before and now say again even with tears,
many live as enemies of the cross of Christ. Their destiny is destruction,
their god is their stomach, and their glory is in their shame. Their mind is on
earthly things.”
Philippians
3:17-19
I am reminded
of this passage often, but none so much as when I am approaching a time of
fasting and prayer. During this time, I am specifically drawn to the phrase “their
god is their stomach.”
Paul had
just told the Philippian believers that they would do well to live according to
the example and pattern the he had passed on to them. Then he cautions them to
be aware of those who live as enemies of the cross. He describes them as
individuals whose “god is their stomach.”
This phrase simply means that they are people who are dictated and
controlled by their appetites.
Appetites
can come in various forms. We can have an appetite for food, sex,
entertainment, sports, relationships and money. All of which are real, fleshy,
earthly appetites which if allowed to dictate us will lead to disastrous
results.
I have
always been a proponent of the idea that what feed flourishes. If you feed your
spirit, your spirit will flourish. If you feed your flesh, your flesh will
flourish. Whichever nature we feed will
be the nature that prospers within us:
“Those who live according to the sinful
nature have their minds set on what that nature desires; but those who live in
accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. The
mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and
peace; the sinful mind is hostile to God. It does not submit to God’s law, nor
can it do so. Those controlled by the sinful nature cannot please God.”
Romans
8:5-8
Fasting
is a tool to help us to identify and break the bondages of unhealthy appetites.
Fausset Bible Dictionary defines fasting as – “the laying aside of food for a
period of time when the believer is seeking to know God in a deeper experience.”
It is refraining from feeding our fleshly appetites!
Pastor Scott
Burr
http://faithandworshipseries.blogspot.com/
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