THE MIRACLE OF EATING

Dear Beloved, THE MIRACLE OF EATING “…always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Ephesians 5:20, NIV). “…give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus” (1 Thessalonians 5:18 NIV). The Yoruba people have a form of greetings for every occasion. One of such forms of greetings, especially to someone eating, is translated literally, "The food will pass through the right passage." Such a form of greetings may not be meaningful to a novice in physiology or somebody who does not care about how the food we eat, and even the water we drink, get to their destination in the stomach before the digestive process commences. Such ignorance and/or carelessness do not make people appreciate God for the miracle of eating and even drinking water. To them, eating and drinking water are one of such normal routines of life. However, they are indeed miracles. Interestingly, some Yoruba people jokingly tell someone eating that he is performing a miracle. (The word "miracle" in Yoruba etymologically means "the opening of the mouth.") Eating food and drinking water may be one of those things that are ordinary and normal to us, but they are indeed one of the miracles of God. It is when they mistakenly pass through the wrong passage or when we are unable to eat because of an ailment that we appreciate them as miracles. For this reason, we should always be grateful to God for providing our foods and enabling us "to perform the miracle" without any accident during the act. We should also learn to thank Him for other seemly ordinary and normal routines of life. For "The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases, his mercies never come to an end" (Lamentations 3:22 RSV). Lord, thank you for the miracle of eating! In His service, Bayo Afolaranmi (Pastor). Prayer Point: Help me, O God, to always appreciate you for the seemly ordinary and normal routines of life.