1 Corinthians 6:12
All things are lawful for me, but all things are not helpful. All things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the power of any.

I love to eat!  I have heard it said that some people 'eat to live' and others 'live to eat' and without question I would fall into the latter group.  Over the years I have tried absolutely everything you can think of to get my eating under control.  I have tried diets and fasting.  I have tried exercise programs and reading books on discipline.  You name it and I have probably tried it.  I will keep my eating under control for awhile and then before you know it, there I am, at the kitchen cupboard again and again and again, looking for something to munch on.  Not only do I love the whole experience of eating, but I am a nervous eater to boot, so when I am going through busy stressful times it is easy for me to pack in a couple of extra handfuls of chips or a cookie or two, or three, or ten.  Seriously, I just don't seem to have any control in this area.

Now the challenging part of this dilemma I find myself in is this, 'eating is a lawful thing to do'.  Not only is it necessary for survival, but it is lawful as well.  There isn't a 'food cop' waiting at the end of the buffet line to see if I took too much of one item or another.  I have never had a 'food cop' jump out of my cupboard when I was grabbing a handful of chips at ten or eleven o'clock at night. But, here is the meat (no pun intended) of what Paul is saying.  Even though eating chips and cookies and the like is lawful, it is not helpful.  If I want to be all that God wants me to be, I must guard my heart to keep myself from being brought under the power of any. 

There are any number of things that can bring us under its power, food it just one of them.  And, if we want to be all that the Lord wants us to be, we must guard ourselves from being brought under the power of anything that will interfere with God's plan.  How is this possible?  With Jesus!  Paul said, I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.", Phil 4:13.

Lord, help us to discern what things are helpful and what things are bringing us under their control.  We do want to be all that you want us to be.  We want to receive all that you have for us.  Once you reveal those things to us, help us to rely on Jesus' strength to overcome our weaknesses.  Thank you in advance for your answer to our prayer.  In Jesus' name we pray, Amen! 

I pray that you would have a victorious week in Jesus.  May He be your strength this week as you look to Him.  Trust what He says and walk in the victory only He can bring!