And I beheld that it was most sweet, above all that I ever before tasted.(1 Nephi 8:11).
That’s how Lehi describes the fruit of the tree of life, which is later shown to represent the love of God.
Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. (Matthew 4:4)
And in this verse, Christ himself compares the word of God with bread.
I think it is so interesting that the love of God and the word of God are described in terms we frequently use for food—sweet and bread—which are my two biggest forms of addictive and compulsive eating.
It is equally interesting to me that when I turn back to God, I find both love (assurance, comfort) and guidance (counsel, inspiration)—and I feel filled, satisfied, fed, nurtured.
Last night before I went to bed, I spent half an hour reading and journaling about the insights I gleaned from the first paragraph of Bill’s Story in Alcoholics Anonymous. I was stunned and spiritually fed by the sweet truth and the spiritual bread that unfolded to me as I opened myself to the personal application of the details in Bill’s story.
Turning back to this book that stresses treating addiction from a spiritual (inside-out) point-of-view is, is humbling. It requires me to admit that unhealthy eating is NOT just a physical misbehavior. It is not something I can manage my way out of with charts and goal-setting.
Turning to the Twelve Steps humbles me and invites me to admit that I have an addictive relationship with certain foods. Oh, I can white-knuckle control them for awhile, but unless God removes the tendency (disposition, inclination, temptation) from me so that I don’t crave them, sooner or later, when my guard is down, I’ll lose my resolve, my sanity, and start behaving in a crazy, out-of-control way around those foods.
Prayerful Thought: Lord, please bless me that I may forsake the craving I have for physical sweets and bread, and instead crave (hunger and thirst) after the truth Thy Spirit confirms to me.
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