Gluttony, The Forgotten Sin
In our society excess is what sells. More is definitely considered to be better. Why have 1 TV in your house when you can have a TV in every room. Why have 1 computer when you can have 5,1 car when you can have 2, the list could go on and on. Excess is what defines our culture. Your local supermarket alone has around 150 different types of bread to choose from, why because more seems to always be better. There is something in the heart of God that rages against this excess driven society, because the excess is overwhelming and it becomes our identity and we take our eyes off him. One form of excess that is specifically talked about is gluttony.
Gluttony, the forgotten sin. Not a subject often talked about because of it’s unpopularity. Unpopular because most of us, including myself are guilty. Gluttony is defined simply; excessive eating or drinking. Um yeah I’m guilty because of two words, ‘jack’ ’stack’, if you don’t know…call somebody.
What does the Bible have to say?
Prov. 23:21 for drunkards and gluttons become poor, and drowsiness clothes them in rags.
Prov. 30:21-22 “Under three things the earth trembles, under four it cannot bear
up:a servant who becomes king, a fool who is full of food.
Luke 12:19-20 And I’ll say to myself, “You have plenty of good things laid up
for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.But God said to him,
‘You fool! This very night your life will be
demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?
Phil. 3:19 Their destiny is destruction, their god is their stomach, and
their glory is in their shame. Their mind is on earthly things.
I’ll let the scriptures speak for them selves, but say this:
We are empty beings, seeking to be filled. Gluttony is a false satisfaction that turns our hearts away from God’s divine provision, which is why it’s a sin. Every breath is his, and every bit of provision we receive comes from him. We say a prayer of thanks over our food because it was him who truly provided it, no matter how hard one works to buy. Gluttony is an abuse of his sovereign provision. Something that should not be overlooked.
dude I cannot count the number of times I stand in a near comatose state at the choice of canned soup, or toothpaste, or… yeah, good point
That Paula Zahn, zain, chick is going to talk about that tommorrow night)CNN 8 ET…my sin is my whole life flying by drive thrus not caring what goes down, wendy, mac and the king—–I think I should shoot them in the head before I am dead
ah… good stuff zach. i had a college professor who was writing a series of books on the svee deadly sins and the book on gluttony absolutely jacked me up. if you’re into reading (and i know you are) and want to go deeper on the gluttony thing, you should for real get your paws on her book. it’s a quick read, but super-stinking deep.
*should say “seven deadly sins”. my keyboard (as well as my mind) is a bit mccrappy these days.
Yeah, and what about the speed at which we feed our gluttony? If it takes longer than 5 minutes to get food at a drive-thru we get peeved right? And microwaves! Two minutes still isn’t fast enough. ouch
Truth, truth, truth.
And timely. Happy GBF on Monday!
wow, that’s about as touchy, no more touchy, than the porn issue. My Dad talks about this all the time. He says it’s the least addressed sin in the church, next to money and sexual sin, because no one wants to really deal with it. Wayda deal Zack, why did you?