About sixty years ago, I was visiting a faithful Christian family. The lady was having a health problem and was telling me how she was having to count her calories. Then she asked me, “Do you live to eat or eat to live?” I had never heard that question before and had to think about it.
Just looking at the title we can see that we all have a choice to make. Some sixty years after being asked, I can easily answer it without hesitation. My stomach demands that I eat to live. If I don’t, my whole body knows and suffers from my inaction.
Life is made up of choices that each one has to make. Some choices affect our health, which determines our joy and happiness here on earth. Years ago, the exception was an overweight person; there were very few. One doctor stated recently that 85% of people in the United States are overweight. Certainly, we know God didn’t make us all to be the same size, but what does God’s Word say about the amount we eat? “For the drunkard and the glutton shall come to poverty…” (Proverbs 23:21 KJV). The word glutton means eating or drinking to excess. “…This our son is stubborn and rebellious, he will not obey our voice; he is a glutton, and a drunkard”(Deuteronomy 21:20). Notice in these two verses that drunkard and glutton are listed together. In 1 Corinthians 6:10, Paul condemned the drunkard. Food must be consumed with temperance, which is one of the Christian graces (2 Peter 1:6). God blesses us with an abundance of delicious foods. It is hard not to overindulge. Therefore, we each have a decision or a choice to make when it comes to eating. It is so sad to see so much food cast into the garbage while many are starving for food. I have been in a number of countries where children walked the streets begging for food.
Do You Live to Serve God or the Devil?
We have a much greater decision to make! Who are we going to serve while living upon this earth? The saddest thing that I can think of is when there are millions who believe they are on their way to heaven, when all they are doing is following some man. The average person in the pew today does not have enough Bible knowledge to know the difference!
God told His people many years ago, “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee…”(Hosea 4:6). “Thus saith the LORD, Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls. But they said, We will not walk therein” (Jeremiah 6:16). He could say the same about people today. Jesus said, “And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free”(John 8:32). Only obedience to the Truth will save a soul!
There is no work to serve the devil. By doing nothing one is serving him. All he has to offer is an eternal hell, where torment will last forever. God offers eternal life where all will live in joy and happiness forever! The choice should be an easy one! Where are you going?
