The God of All Nutrition and Health

When I break your staff of bread, ten women will bake bread in rationed amounts, so that you will eat and not be satisfied. your bread in one oven, and they will bring back your

Leviticus 26:26 NAS

This morning we again look at Westminster Larger Catechism Question 193, which asks, “What

do we pray for in the fourth petition?” It gives the answer, “In the fourth petition (which is, Give us

this day our daily bread,) acknowledging, that in Adam, and by our own sin, we have forfeited our

right to all the outward blessings of this life, and deserve to be wholly deprived of them by God,

and to have them cursed to us in the use of them; and that neither they of themselves are able to

sustain us, nor we to merit, or by our own industry to procure them; but prone to desire, get, and

use them unlawfully: we pray for ourselves and others, that both they and we, waiting upon the

providence of God from day to day in the use of lawful means, may, of his free gift, and as to his

fatherly wisdom shall seem best, enjoy a competent portion of them; and have the same

continued and blessed unto us in our holy and comfortable use of them, and contentment in

them; and be kept from all things that are contrary to our temporal support and comfort.”

Awhile back I had a recurrence of acid reflux and heartburn that was so bad I thought this time

for sure something was wrong with my heart. The reason why it got so bad again was that for the

five years prior I had become accustomed to a certain amount of heartburn pain and how to deal

with it. So when it would get bad I would tweak my diet a little, pop some antacids, and it would

go away. However, this time the symptoms were a little different and so after reading some

articles on the internet I concluded that I had some kind of circulation problem that called for a

healthier diet and lifestyle. So in addition to exercising regularly I began drinking low sodium V8s

every day, eating salads with apple cider vinegar, and drinking a ton of water. However, in all of

these actions I was actually probably increasing my acid reflux problem to the point where I let

Robin take me to the hospital! The V8s gave me citric acid which is one of my triggers, and the

salads gave me vinegar which is another one. Finally, the excessive water made my stomach so

full that the acid was more prone to coming up into my esophagus.

Why is it that my body can no longer handle citric acid? Why can I no longer eat raw onions,

vinegar, or garlic? I have asked the doctors these questions and it is as if I’m asking how many

angels can dance on the head of a pin. They look at me like, “Why are you asking such

questions? Take these pills and you’ll feel better.” I’m happy for the pills, but I would rather know

what has changed in my body so that I cannot eat oranges anymore—when I love oranges! It

cannot simply be that I am getting older. There are many people a lot older than me that can eat

all of these things without any pain. So what changed in my body and why did it change? And is

there a way to change it back? I never really did get answers to these questions from the

medical field. But this whole episode serves to illustrate a point that is much more significant:

Why does food bring health to our bodies? And how does it do it? How is it that protein is used

by our bodies to build muscle, and calcium to strengthen bones, and carbohydrates and fats to

give energy, and why do all of the different vitamins and minerals function in our cells the way

they do? What gives these things the power to do what they do in our bodies, and how can our

cells use them and know how to use them to do it?

Our question today points out the ultimate answer when it says that all of our sources of nutrition

are not able “of themselves… to sustain us.” Though it is good for us to learn about our bodies and

how to take care of them, we must remember that all of the power of food and exercise to bring

us health and fitness ultimately comes from the power and will of God. God could make it so that

even if we had a perfect diet, it would do no good to our bodies whatsoever. In fact some

scholars believe that the passage at the head of this article about God breaking the staff of bread

refers not only to a scarcity of bread but to God removing the power of bread to give nutrition to

their bodies. It is sobering to realize that only by the goodness of God is food able to give health

and strength to our bodies. It should result in our asking ever more humbly and sincerely for God

to give us this day our daily bread, for we should realize that all of the blessing that we receive

from all of our food is ultimately by the power and will of our God. God is so good that He brings

forth bread from the earth and wills that it nourish us and all of His creatures. Sincerely thank God today for your bread and how He gives you strength and health through it.