Comfort Food

The most basic of human needs is nourishment, i.e., food and water. And a vast majority of Earth’s population struggle every day to get enough of it to stay alive. All the while, obesity in the U.S. has become an increasingly large problem (pun intended). According to a recent report, the amount of food Americans eat has been increasing since the 1970s. Why? Simply this: ‘wealthy’ (relatively speaking) Americans eat for comfort, not for nourishment. Comfort eating has always been one of the greatest saboteurs of well-being!

Why? Paul rebuked people “whose god is their appetite” as those who “set their mind on earthly things” (Phil. 3:19). In other words, Paul points out the eating connection between those whose focus is more on earthly than heavenly. The temptation for comfort and pleasure (or burgers, fries, and milkshakes) is the bane of fallen humanity.

The writer of Hebrews calls Esau “profane” (common or earthly) because he “traded his birthright as the firstborn son for a single meal” (12:16). Think about this. Just as eating lost Esau his birthright, so it was eating that lost Adam His. And when Satan tempted Jesus to eat, it was Jesus’ refusal to eat that won back the kingdom! Metaphorically speaking, it isn’t eating, per se, but forfeiting our relationship with God for immediate gratification of comfort and pleasure (or fast food).