The Belly god

Cindy Jackson has spent a small fortune and endured 47 surgical procedures in an attempt to turn herself into the likeness of a Barbie Doll! It isn't that she lacks intellectual capacity. She is a member of Mensa, a world wide group of very smart people. Ms. Jackson is simply in love with her body. Many of us are! We spend countless days obsessing with the size of our waist, the taste and temperature of our soup, the aroma of our coffee, the cut of our suit, or the quality of our sexual experience.

The Scripture colorfully calls this kind of person as one "whose God is their belly!" Richard Foster writes, "Any life lived on the order of the body alone will end in emptiness. We simply cannot sustain meaning when the only measure of life is endless experience." (Longing For God, IVP, 2009)

A great dinner is to be enjoyed. Caring for our appearance is not a bad thing. God created us with the capacity to experience pleasure. My intent today is not to urge a life of deprivation or pain on anyone. In a twisted way, there are those who profess to be followers of Christ Jesus, who worship the belly god by turning the good news of salvation into a long list of rules designed to curb the appetites of the body. The Word repeats their mantra: "Don't handle! Don't taste! Don't touch!" (Colossians 2:21) and then reminds us of the folly of a religion with this focus: "These rules may seem wise because they require strong devotion, pious self-denial, and severe bodily discipline. But they provide no help in conquering a person's evil desires." (Colossians 2:23, NLT)

Disciple, our focus is higher than this body! We are to love God - with all our mind, heart, and strength. In this, we find life to the full which He promised. We understand that the body is perishing and we do not despair because of that fact. We feed, clothe, and care for our body as the 'temple of the Spirit,' which it is, but we refuse to make it our god.

Consider the wisdom in this passage. "For many walk, (live their daily lives) of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ: whose end is destruction, whose god is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame- who set their mind on earthly things.

For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to His glorious body, according to the working by which He is able even to subdue all things to Himself." (Philippians 3:18-21, NKJV)

Are you worshipping your stomach?
Do you define 'the good life' by food, comfort, or appearance?

If so, break that idol! "Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God." (Colossians 3:2-3, NKJV) Practice the discipline of fasting (not just food!) to allow the love of God to flourish. Cultivate the inner beauty of a clean and righteous heart that cannot be taken away by the passing of time.

Those who serve the belly god become enslaved by the search for more and more exotic experiences to sate the senses. Lust and gluttony corrupt every part of their lives, shape every interaction, and ultimately their god is wrenched from their grasp by age and death. Those who serve the Savior are led to life, know joy, and relinguish their body and appetites even as they take hold of eternal life, right here, right now!
_______

Light of the world
You stepped down into darkness
Opened my eyes let me see
Beauty that made
This heart adore You
Hope of a life spent with You

So here I am to worship
Here I am to bow down
Here I am to say that
You're my God
And You're altogether lovely
Altogether worthy
Altogether wonderful to me

Here I Am To Worship
Tim Hughes, 2000 ThankYou Music
CCLI License 810005