You Are What You Eat!

The old saying that “You are what you eat” came to my mind this morning as I began to investigate the meaning behind Paul’s words in Romans 12:2.  The most common translation of this verse encourages us to “be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect will of God.”  (KJV)  The Gods Word Bible simply says to “change the way you think.”  The one translation that I like the best though comes from the Contemporary English Bible.  It suggests that we “let God change the way we think.”  It makes it clear that the task is in God’s hands and not ours alone.

So, how do we allow Him to do this?  (I’m glad you asked!)  Our first responsibility is to make the decision to let Him perform a change in us.  Then we need to follow through with that decision by “hanging out” with Him.  I guess this is why that phrase came to my mind as I thought this through!

The actual quote “You are what you eat” is a rough translation of a phrase that was written by a French doctor and gourmand, Anthelme Brillat-Savarin in 1826.  It would be more logically translated as “Tell me what you eat and I shall tell you what you are.”  In other words, “What exactly are you eating?  Junk food?  Gourmet?  Exotic? Maybe basic foods cooked in a natural state?  The kind of food you choose to consume is a reflection of the kind of person you are.” (http://jenniferhancox.com/2010/08/you-are-what-you-eat/)

It’s kind of funny in that as I read that description from a food critic’s blog concerning the origins of that saying, I began to think about different people I know and their eating habits, and I could see some real justification to what she wrote!  For me growing up in a 100% Italian family, meal times where always an event!  It was a time you looked forward to for scrumptious food, lively conversation and meaningful fellowship.  I know of many where meal time is just something that you have to do each day! 

I spent the afternoon yesterday working around my folk’s garden in preparation for Spring.  When I was about to leave, I was standing in their kitchen and I noticed how happy my 86 year old mother was as she puttered around the stove preparing their dinner.  Even my dad had a glow in his eyes as he asked my mom what she was preparing!  The upcoming dinner was a big part of their day that they were looking forward to!

Okay, okay… back to the point of today’s blog!  Just as the kind of food (including the manner in which you partake of it) can be said to be a mirror of the kind of person you are, likewise those with whom you spend time with will also be reflected in your attitude, in the way you think and in the way in which you carry yourself.  In plain English… you and I can have our minds renewed by spending regular time with God in His word.  That’s how we allow Him to change the way we think!  As we immerse ourselves in His word we will eventually begin to reason like Him, see things as He sees them and even more importantly, we’ll begin to ACT like Him in our daily lives.  It turns out to be an easy transition, and not something that we have to make happen within our own strength.

God loves us so much that He made it easy for us!  The Bible is the written transcription of who God is.  John 1:1 actually says that the word IS God.  It can’t get much simpler than that.  Like I said before though, the hardest part for us is to make the decision to spend time daily with Him.  Meeting with God in His word first thing in the morning is something that I have done for years.  I can’t imagine not spending time with Him at the beginning of my day.  Even when I had to travel for an hour and a half to be at work by 5:00 in the morning, I made sure that I arose early enough to get at least fifteen minutes with Him!  Then I would meet with Him in His word again at my first break at 7:00 am.

Well, this is getting long, so I’d better let you go and enjoy your weekend.  You can probably tell that this is one of my favorite subjects!  For you know what they say… “You are what you eat!”  And I, just like you I’m sure, want to be like Him!  Stay tuned and keep asking yourself… “What am I expecting today?”