Moderation

08 May Moderation

Think back to your last holiday meal. How many plates of food did you eat? Did you feel a need to try EVERY dish that was on the table? Did you get a plate full of dessert despite the fact that you were already stuffed from the main course? Doing this once or twice a year on special occasions may not be a big deal, but habitual, excessive, uncontrolled eating is a problem called gluttony.

Scripture says that we should not “join those who drink too much wine or gorge themselves on meat, for drunkards and gluttons become poor (Prov 23:20-21, NIV).” Towards the beginning of the same chapter, it says “put a knife to thy throat, if thou be a man given to appetite (Prov 23:2, KJV).” Huh?!  While these verses are especially blunt and perhaps a bit on the extreme side, the point is well taken…don’t be a glutton!

Gluttony is indicative of a lack of self-control when it comes to eating. Could it signify a lack of control in other areas of one’s life as well? We started this series with a reminder that we must eat and drink to the glory of God (1 Cor 10:31).  Eating and drinking in moderation is one way to accomplish that.