You Are What You Eat

“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.” (Matthew 5:6)

“You are what you love” has been the cry of the church for centuries, but I much prefer the ol’ Southern version – “You are what you eat.” Loving and eating are as old as the hills and bred into the very fiber of our bones. Whereas our stomach can hold a variety of contents, our heart can only hold one. The heart can only drink from one well and eat from one table (Pro. 5:15; Num. 11:4-6). As my grandmother used to say, “You can’t have your cake and eat it too.” Spread before us today are two feasts, two meals, two cakes – righteousness and unrighteousness. Only one comes with a blessing.

Many men act as that wishful dieter who said, “If I eat a carrot and a cookie, when they get to my stomach, they’ll balance each other out.” This spells disaster for our physical health, even more so for our spiritual. We stuff our face with cable news and a side of Christ, and we wonder why we have such anxiety. We load our plates with social media and a side of Christ, and we wonder why we have such envy. We are consumed with self and a side of Christ, and we wonder why we are unhappy. Could it be a poor diet? Ours hearts are not full because we hunger and thirst after things that do not satisfy (Is. 55:2).

True and lasting satisfaction comes from Christ alone, “who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption” (1 Cor. 1:30). We are willing to spend and be spent for our lusts, but how much more so for the Lover of our Souls? Everything we need is provided in Christ, plus nothing. What do we have that He has not given? What do we need that he cannot provide? To avail ourselves to Him in prayer, in reading, in worship, in life – herein lies “more joy in my heart than they have when their grain and wine abound” (Ps. 4:7). What a blessing, what a satisfaction it is to know that everything is in one place, one person, one Christ!