Be The Fruit

What do you feel like eating today?

by Bill Blair on 16/12/08 at 7:26 am

Is that really the question we should be asking?

Think about it. What do you really feel like eating today? Maybe steak and lobster, prime rib, pasta, cheesecake, ice cream, or cookies are the things you feel like eating. Really, the question is, “What should we eat today?

You may want a steak from Prime Steakhouse wherever, but what it may be the case that you should eat some leftovers that you have in the refrigerator. I bring up this point not so much to look at our eating habits, but for us to look at how we live our lives in total. I think much of our lives today are consumed by our feelings. Feelings are everything to us, but our feelings often deceive us.

How often do you really feel like praying? How often do you feel like reading your Bible? Do you really FEEL like loving your neighbor as yourself? Loving God with all your heart, soul, and mind? The truth is that we all have this thing inside of us the Bible calls “the flesh” that pushes and pulls us to do things we should not be doing or discourages from the things we should. Because of the flesh that lingers inside of us, we should be wary of our feelings and check them against the sure Word (2 Pet 1:19). Even better, we should aggressively live out and obey the Scriptures by the Spirit so we can put to death the works of the flesh (Rom 8:13).

Think through this today. Observe how often people live by and are influenced by feelings. Listen to your language and see how often you use the word “feel.” Compare how often you make decisions by what you feel rather than considering what God has said in the Scriptures. Think about it, and remember that those feelings you might be considering just might be bubbling up from your flesh and leading you astray.