We Are What We Eat

The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. Psalm 103:8

Paul wrote: The grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all. Titus 2:11

REFLECTION:
Psalm 103 hit me square in the chest this morning...

All of Psalm 103 is about God's characteristics...
God forgives, heals, redeems, crowns, satisfies, renews, works justice, removes our sin (as far as the east is from the west)...he remembers we are dust. (All of these words are taken directly from Psalm 103).

The Psalm opens and closes with the encouragement, "Bless the Lord, O my soul!"

And it is striking to me today that the four characteristics in verse 8 describe how I want to walk in the world. Except I am terrible at doing that on my own.

I want to be merciful. But often, the "old Adam" in me holds grudges.
I want to be gracious. But often, exhaustion in me demands my needs be first.
I want to be slow to anger. But often, the schedule I keep has me so frayed at the edges that I react.
I want to be abounding in steadfast love. But often, I haven't taken time to be filled with love enough to offer it as I should.

As I contemplate this morning the remedy for this situation, five words come to mind:
YOU ARE WHAT YOU EAT.

Daily, we consume a culture that encourages grudges over mercy.
Daily, we are flooded by a performance-based value system that tells us to work ourselves to the bone, to be exhausted, to work 70 hours a week, to value work over rest at every turn.

It is as though we as a culture are filling up on junk food all the time...
because while choosing work over rest feeds our egos, it has no staying power.
Like a steady diet of junk food, it may taste great at first, but the health effects later are simply not worth it.

Have we spent anywhere near the same amount of time consuming God's Word?
This might explain our condition.
Any doctor will tell you that eating junk food regularly and choosing not to exercise or eat fresh foods is a recipe for ill-health.

If we want to be merciful, we have to fed by mercy.
If we want to be gracious, we have to be fed by grace.
If we want to be slow to anger, we have to be fed by forgiveness.
If we want to be abounding in steadfast love, we have to be fed by steadfast love.

And, as the second verse above makes clear, the table has been set and it is all waiting for us. The grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all.

So today, dear reader, I hope you belly up to the table. You've already begun by taking a few moments out of your day for scripture.

Now, may we all have the courage and the drive to set aside time to be in prayer, silence, family, friends, and peace. These are God's gifts to us. May we choose the healthy foods today.

PRAYER:
Faithful and gracious God our Father, thank you for your patience and love when you look upon our daily follies. Give us wisdom to live lives worthy of our calling. In Jesus’ name, Amen.*

*Prayer taken from the Moravian Daily Texts