Welcome to another edition of the LKP Treasure Trove
We all have appetites, but some of us have bigger appetites than others. If our appetites get out of control, we will thereby give in to our own desires and serve our flesh. This is what overeating leads to. Yah, through his Set Apart Spirit, has given us the power to control every aspect of our flesh, and that means controlling our appetites. Today, Isaiah will have to learn this lesson firsthand from his grandmother.
Yah Doesn't Like Gluttons
As always, it was a packed lunchroom, and Isaiah’s favorite table—the one right next to the large windows that faced the school grounds—had one seat left open. But it would force Isaiah to sit next to Bobby Slonsky, the overweight kid who always bought two lunches and piled a heap of snacks around his lunch tray. The lunchroom kids loved to watch Bobby devour his food and snacks and guzzle juice from his juice boxes. He was a greedy eater, and it showed.
That didn’t seem to matter to the lunchroom kids when Bobby gave them a show by eating like a starved lion, with bits of food and snack crumbs falling everywhere and juice trickling down his neck and his shirt. Even the lunchroom staff often watched him in amazement. When Bobby wolfed down his lunch that day, it even amazed Isaiah, who also admired Bobby for the attention he was getting from everyone.
On the bus ride home, all Isaiah thought about was standing in front of a pile of treats.
When Grandma, who was in the laundry room, heard the front door slam and feet trot through the hall, she said, “Well, good afternoon to you too, Isaiah.”
“Hi, grandma,” Isaiah said while setting his backpack on the couch. He made his way to the kitchen and placed a big dinner plate on the table. Then he grabbed three boxes of cookies and started tearing them open.
After a few minutes, Grandma’s curiosity tugged at her so hard she set some clothes aside and made her way into the kitchen to see what Isaiah was up to. To her surprise, her grandson was loading up a dinner plate with cookies. “What are you doing?”
“I’m going to eat these cookies, grandma,” Isaiah said. “This boy at school showed me how.”
“You put those back this instant,” Grandma said. “We didn’t raise you to be a glutton. Do you even know what a glutton is?”
Isaiah shook his head as he hastily put a handful of cookies back into a box.
“It’s a person who eats way too much,” Grandma said. “Yah doesn’t like gluttons because they have no self-control, and Scripture says you shouldn’t be a glutton or even eat with one. Do you know what will happen if you don’t control your appetite, Isaiah?”
“What, grandma?” Isaiah asked.
“It will never be satisfied, so you’ll spend the rest of your life trying to feed it. Instead, let’s feed our spirits. Go get my Scriptures.”
NOW, WHAT ABOUT YOU?
Do you have a hard time controlling your appetite? Gluttony is one of the tools the devil uses to keep us from serving Yah with our all. Overeating dulls the senses and makes us sluggish. In effect, we will easily lose spiritual battles and give in to other desires when tempted. So controlling the appetite and eating moderately is one of the spiritual weapons we have in this war. To assure us the victory over gluttony, Matthew 26:41 tells us to: “Keep watching and praying that you may not enter into temptation; the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.”
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