So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.
1 Corinthians 10:31
It’s interesting as one browses the pages of the Bible how much food is mentioned. Genesis begins with God providing food for Adam and Eve (Genesis 2). The first sin involved eating forbidden food (Genesis 3). Given the hospitality of the culture, meals are often mentioned. Just as food is an essential part of life, so it figures prominently in the Bible.
At first people only ate plants. Later God gave them meat after the flood (Genesis 9:3). God gave the Israelites a list of animals they may and may not eat (Leviticus 11), which Jesus certainly would have followed (If he didn’t, he would have been disobeying God’s laws). When Gentiles became followers of Jesus, the general guidance seems to be that they weren’t required to follow those stringencies. Not wanting to burden these new converts with too much, four basic principles were placed on Gentile believers (Acts 15). Interestingly enough, three of them relate to food.
At the same time, the Bible talks about fasting, too. Many important Bible characters fasted for extended periods of time, including Moses, Elijah, and Jesus. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said, “When you fast…” (Matthew 6:16), implying that people do fast. The Pharisees commonly fasted twice a week. There are also annual fasts on the Jewish calendar. Fasting forces you to depend on God to get you through, surrendering your appetites and desires to him. It helps you to focus on him.
The Bible is full of feasting and fasting. We may have freedom in Messiah to eat anything, but does that mean we should? “‘Everything is permissible for me’–but not everything is beneficial. ‘Everything is permissible for me’–but I will not be mastered by anything” (1 Corinthians 6:12). Food is a powerful force in our lives. We can’t live without it. However, just because I can eat something doesn’t mean I have to. Do I control my appetites or do they control me?
Does God care about what we eat?