Food. Food is an interesting thing. God didn't need to make humans with a need for food, but he did. Or, at least, at first, he made them with a pure enjoyment of it. I'm not sure that bodies created to live forever would have truly needed food. Who knows. That's all rather speculative, and a moot point, considering that Satan used food as his medium to tempt man and woman to sin, and they ushered sin into the world through food. At which point we know that they did need food, because they have to labor for it by the sweat of their brow, so that they could live short lives then die. Its interesting to note that the curse given to the serpent also involved eating - "You will crawl on your belly and you will eat dust all the days of your life."

Food (and drink, I might add) went on a long and interesting journey from the Garden of Eden on through the course of the Old Testament. Food was also at issue in the second major sin in the Bible. Abraham was promised his first son just after he fed the three visitors. It just kept popping up in birthright deals, various dreams, ordinated meals and feasts, miracles in the desert, sacrifices and offerings, signs of the promise land, weakening strong men, strengthening weak women, the list goes on and on. Food and drink serve as quite the handy metaphor throughout the poetic and prophetic books (and some of the prophets almost became food themselves!), and then you hit the Gospels.

Jesus' first miracle involved drink. The two of his "biggest" (directly effected the most people) miracles were those of feeding the masses. The first temptation Satan went after Jesus with (quite predictably, if you consider his track record of temptation) was also regarding food. He spoke on food and fasting and such quite a good deal, and then He did something quite fascinating - He served a meal. For His last act before trial and death, Christ chose to institute a meal, and serve his disciples bread and wine. And then He became the ultimate bread and wine. He atoned for all sin which spread from the bad apple by becoming the Bread of Life and drinking the cup of God's wrath. And when his crucifixion was at an end, he had a final drink, cried out, and died. The resurrected Christ was first recognized by his disciples when he again broke bread for them, and his last miracle before leaving earth was again involving the gift of food.

Its clear to see that food is an important thing to us - not just for the sustenance of life, but for creating the avenues through which the ultimate life might be demonstrated, shared, and celebrated. You see this in the youth group giving pizza away to attract kids, and the mission giving food to the homeless. You see it in the family dinner table, and in welcoming friends to the table as well. And you see it quite clearly in the celebration of the Lord's Supper.

The gift of food is, essentially, the gift of life, and such a gift carries with it the necessary (if subtle) implications of what the gift of spiritual food would do for a person. Its over food that we find true communion and fellowship, and a Christian should consider it no small thing to be quick to offer the gift of food. It is a simple, easy, and clear way that we can show Christ to the world, and the doors that we open to sharing spiritual food with the truly starving are essentially endless, when we have garnered favor by first offering the real thing. Let us endeavor to be gracious hosts and good cooks. Or call Dominos.