June 16, 2008

What Would Jesus Eat?

There’s actually a book by that title. And it’s a valid question …would Jesus, for instance, if physically on the earth today, frequent fast food restaurants? He was accused of hanging out with gluttons, and according to health department portion information, a children’s hamburger is about the right size—not triple that, with supersized fries! No wonder many of us have been losing the battle of…losing.

Can the Bible help us with the war on weight? Years ago “Ezekiel Bread” was a fad—God’s recipe for keeping the prophet alive in the desert for two years. Viewing one recipe online recently, I had to laugh—preparation time is given as “20 minutes” but the recipe calls for grinding your own flour (not to mention gathering nuts and berries from the Promised Land). Even today, you can buy “health” bread (i.e. barely edible) touting to be just like Ezekiel’s lifesaver. Taste-wise, the reviews aren’t great, but then, they probably don’t bake it on human dung as God originally instructed Ezekiel to do. (See Ezekiel 4 – I kid you not.)

Ordinarily when losing weight is discussed, it’s about doing without or limiting a certain section of the food pyramid—no fats, no carbs, nothing white after five o’clock, gluten-free. Those who have lost pounds and keep it off, however, maintain that success has more to do with keeping track of what you eat, incorporating true lifestyle changes, and having the support of family and friends than with sticking to any one’s no-no list.

The addition of one crucial element to our diet, however, added in the right proportion, would probably do more than any attempt at slashing menu items. Calorie free. Just-plain-free, too. I refer, of course, to that universally life-maintaining substance…water.

Being comprised of 75% water, we need lots of it every day to remain healthy—that old school chart axiom of 8 glasses of day is just the minimum, and if you’re like me, even that has historically been difficult to maintain.

Water aids digestion, regulates temperature and circulation, cushions joints, protects organs. Experts say that dehydration (a lack of water) may cause hypertension, asthma, allergies, and migraines; it’s also linked to depression and chronic fatigue. For those of us who want to lose weight, water has to be taken into account—too little leads to excess body fat, poor muscle tone, and water retention that makes us feel even fatter! Who needs that?!

A pharmacist once told me that the body would pretty much maintain an even keel if kept hydrated. Obviously, water is crucial to our existence, and yet, we habitually reach out for sodas and java, which actually deplete the water in our bodies. We don’t drink what we should (enough of it, anyway) and we substitute liquids that aren’t nearly as beneficial.

You can probably guess where I’m headed with this.

In John 4, Jesus tells the woman of Samaria that the water he gives is a spring of eternal life. In John 7, Jesus speaks to a crowd in Jerusalem on the last day of the Feast of Tabernacles: “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me, and let the one who believes in me drink. As the scripture has said, ‘Out of the believer’s heart shall flow rivers of living water.’”

Isaiah 55:1 calls out to us still: “Ho! Everyone who thirsts, come to the waters…” The psalmist created a beautiful word picture in Psalm 42: “As the deer longs for flowing streams, so my soul longs for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.”

Just as our physical bodies depend on water for physical health, our spirits depend on spiritual water. Just as we are already dehydrated by the time our minds register that we are thirsty, causing us to seek liquids, we don’t always realize we’re spiritually dehydrated until things begin to fall apart around us. How many problems might we avoid if we simply and consistently drank of the living water? How many times have we heard someone say they felt dry?

I encourage you to not only drink more water, but to drink in more of Jesus’ pure, thirst-quenching, life-giving water through reading the Word, worshipping alone and with others, praying to the giver of all good things.

Ellen Gillette is a Christian writer in Harnett County, North Carolina who is trying really hard to drink more water. Author of Baaad Sheep- When God’s People Let You Down (CarePoint, 2007) she may be reached by e-mail: ellenofgillette1@aol.com. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect the views of other individuals or corporate bodies associated with Crossroads Church. (New Revised Version of the Bible used this week.)

P.S. Studies recommend that if you are overweight you should add one glass of water to your daily requirement (of eight glasses) for every 25 pounds over your recommended weight.