by Caroline Kurtz, former Frontier Fellowship Associate Director
The Bible talks a lot about food. Sometimes it refers to what we feed the physical body. Sometimes, as when Jesus explained to His disciples that His food was to do what His Father sent Him to do (John 4:34), “food” means spiritual nourishment. What if we resist the temptation to dichotomize a wisdom paradox and let God’s promises about food reverberate in our hearts, applying to food for both body and soul?
Here are some promises: Psalm 107:9—“He satisfies those who are thirsty and fills the hungry with good things;” Isaiah 55:1—free water, food, wine and milk are available; Joel 2:25—God will restore the crops that locusts have destroyed.
In a world of unimaginable wealth as well as deep, grinding poverty, how are we to understand promises that God’s beloved humans will be freely fed? Jesus made it clear that God expects us to make sure our neighbors are taken care of. The writer of James challenges, “What good is there in your saying [to people without food or clothes], ‘God bless you! Keep warm and eat well!’ if you don’t give them the necessities of life?” (James 2:16, GNT).
But let’s not stop there. What else are humans starving for today? We’re starving for peace—in our hearts, in our communities, among our nations. We’re starving for beauty and love and freedom from fear. God says to us in Isaiah 55:2, “Why spend money on what does not satisfy? Why spend your wages and still be hungry? Listen to Me and do what I say, and you will enjoy the best food of all” (GNT).
In this season of celebrating Emmanuel, God with us, let’s recommit to feeding our neighbors food, peace, safety, respect—all that the body and soul long for.
Follow along with our daily devotional series for the Advent season.
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