Soul Food

My wife made for me some Mac and Cheese the other day. I am just getting over a sinus infection that eventually made its way into my chest. The last thing I need is cheese thickening up the cough that still haunts my chest. Yet I could not say no. Mac and Cheese is my soul food. And she made some German Wurst (Sausage) to go with it. I was in soul heaven. And I know she did it out of love. She knows my soul food well.

This morning I was eating another soul meal and I ponder the food that was in front of me. It was well made, thank you Chubby's and it fit the desire of my soul. Yet when I walked away from the meal, my stomach and soul were satisfied but my heart was strangely empty.

Revelation of the day: You can eat according to the desires of your soul or according to the desires of your heart.

The heart enjoys food with fellowship and out of gratitude. The soul demands the emotions and the mind be satisfied. There is no need for gratitude or fellowship as the soul lusts for food it can consume. The soul gives no thought to the body or the future but rather feeds off of desires hidden within the soul that echo pleasure and unresolved grief that is locked in the sad cycle, demanding happiness.

Solomon reveals God's heart in "Woe to you , O land, whose king is a lad and whose princes feast in the morning. Blessed are you, O land, whose king is of nobility and whose princes eat at the appropriate time - for strength, and not for drunkenness." Ecclesiastes 5:16,17.

Solomon saw that there were kings who were raised from birth to walk in nobility and could lead others to walk in the nobility. He also saw that there were princes who ate for strength and princes who ate for pleasure. To eat according to the heart means to eat according to strength. Strength for the body and mind and not for the pleasure of the soul. There are times that are appropriate to eat for pleasure and it is always a shared pleasure, a birthday, an anniversary, a special celebration. But woe to the man who goes to Golden Corral every day to celebrate himself. I love to eat with my family at Golden Corral. It is fun to try the different food, to see what the other family members love to eat and share the time together. But to eat and feast alone means I am in search of a soul happiness that is dangerous. The heart eats for strength out of gratitude and the soul and stomach seek pleasure out of the food. Solomon warns in chapter 6 verse 7 "the appetite is not satisfied."

The book of Ecclesiastes is about a man who had everything that a man's soul desired. If his mind could think it, if his feelings craved it, he choose to will it for himself. And he declares it to be vanity, foolishness.

Do you eat with your heart or your soul? After you walk away from the table is your heart full of gratitude over what God just provided or are you convicted that you just ate according to your soul and ate alone? When we eat according to our heart and His Spirit we invite Him to dine with us and we both walk away from the meal satisfied. Our stomach may still have some craving but our hearts are full and we have enjoyed the true pleasure that has no regrets.

PS Married couples. Are you having heart sex or soul sex with your spouse?