Perhaps Paul had New Year’s resolutions in mind when he said, “So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God (1 Corinthians 10:31).” I don’t know about you, but I believe this is one of the most challenging verses in Scripture.
Eating to the glory of God? Drinking to the glory of God? Whatever you do, glorify God? Sounds like a great New Year’s resolution to me.
Take a look around at any Baptist gathering and you have to wonder if overeating hasn’t become an accepted vice among the potluck regulars. There is a good possibility there is less room in the pew because we keep reaching for seconds at the buffet line, not because we have done a great job at outreach.
I’ve struggled with weight most of my life. Keeping the weight off is a struggle now more than ever. The older I get, the more I understand the term “comfort foods.” Stress, boredom and busyness are my worst enemies when it comes to sticking to my plan. OK, I confess, I never have the willpower to eat just one of my wife’s homemade chocolate chip cookies. In some ways, many Baptists are using food to self medicate. The right food at the right time may make you feel better but in the end it is shortening our life spans and ministries.
I come from a long line of beer drinkers. I have seen and experienced first-hand the ill effects that come from drinking a tall-boy. Ask any alcoholic if they wish they’d never taken their first drink or talk to a mother who lost her teenager to drunk driving, and both are sure to mention regret.
Alcohol is responsible for as much pain and suffering as many diseases we desperately seek to eliminate. Why would we hope for anything less when it comes to booze? We could eliminate one of our leading killers and sources for the demise of family by not “popping the top on a cold one.”
Glorifying God in whatever we do is the key. Everything we do is important to God. Every thought, deed and action has the potential to glorify Him. If we approach 2007 glorifying God in whatever we do, everything else will take care of itself.
