Is Your Belly Your God?
One Sunday afternoon, I was going over my sermon notes for the evening service, and I became hungry. Now I've been trying to take some better care of my health and not overindulge in sweets. Let us just say this is not a skill I've mastered thus far, but I am working on it. During this particular afternoon, I had a craving for a milkshake, specifically a cookies and cream milkshake. As I thought about it, I began doing google searches for the nearest place that could provide such a shake. I concluded Steak 'n Shake was the best option. As I was considering the price, I had this thought: I don't have to listen to my stomach. And isn't that the case? Our bodies do not have to dictate our decisions for us.
In fact, that is one of the repeated lessons we find throughout the Scriptures: while our bodies have many desires which conflict with the will of God (Gal. 5:16-25), we have a choice (Genesis 4:7). But as Paul points out, many have allowed their bellies (a metaphor for bodily desires) to determine their fate. "Their end is destruction, their god is their belly, and they glory in their shame, with minds set on earthly things" (Phil. 3:19). Many people in Paul's day, and in our day, live their lives not according to virtue or the will of God—but by the dictates of the flesh. While, of course, a certain attention to the flesh is important in reference to hunger, exhaustion, and various other needs, we all have the power and ability to fulfill our desires in accordance to God's will—and even to abstain completely if that is what is best for the given situation.
It is this choice that separates us from the animal kingdom, and it is the exercise of virtue over carnal desires that separates the saved from the lost. However, this always requires an exercise of will and constant vigilance. As Paul reminds us in Galatians 5:16, "But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh." He wrote in Romans 13:14: "But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires." Our bodies were made to serve us in our ability to serve God (1 Cor. 6:19-20); we were not made to serve our bodies.