“All things are lawful for me,” but not all things are helpful. “All things are lawful for me,” but I will not be enslaved by anything. “Food is meant for the stomach and the stomach for food”—and God will destroy both one and the other. The body is not meant for sexual immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body. And God raised the Lord and will also raise us up by his power.
1 Corinthians 6:12-14
Appetites. We eat because we are hungry. We eat because we enjoy food, but most of our lives have not been destroyed by a natural appetite for food. But when Paul mentions food in verse thirteen of the sixth chapter of 1 Corinthians, he’s speaking to another appetite that can destroy.
Consider this quote from C.S. Lewis in Mere Christianity. Read it carefully.
“… You can get a large audience together for a strip-tease act-that is, to watch a girl undress on the stage. Now suppose you came to a country where you could fill a theatre by simply bringing a covered plate onto the stage and then slowly lifting the cover so as to let everyone see, just before the lights went out, that it contained a mutton chop or a bit of bacon, would you not think that in that country something had gone wrong with the appetite for food? And would not anyone who had grown up in a different world think there was something equally queer about the state of the sex instinct among us?”
C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianiity
Do you think Lewis went over the top with his description?
Have you been influenced by the culture’s view of sexuality? Take notice today of the messages you receive today…at the checkout counter at Kroger…in your workplace…in your choice of media on any screen you have at home or in your pocket.
Consider the standard Paul raises in the last sentence of 1 Corinthians 6:13. What do you think is his point here and how does it relate to our daily lives?
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