Home Cooking and Grace Before Meal

[Jonathan_Gale]

I love cooking and baking, it's the biggest passion of my life. I've listened to a lot of podcasts about health, nutrition and fitness more than my fair share, and I've read some of their books. You've probably heard that when it comes to diet, there're a lot of camps like paleo, pure vegan, keto, kosher, eastern, mediterrenean, etc. It seems the only consensus they have is that ultra processed food is BAAAAAD. They're tasty and convenient at the moment, but they are also hazardous abominations to health in the long run. I think this is biblical, for whatever you eat, kosher or not, eat what God has ordained for us to eat (Gen. 1:29, 9:3), not what big corporation created for profit.

Therefore, under the influence of this, I eat whole food only and make everything from scratch, and by the power of the Spirit I've disciplined myself to avoid any snack or drink between meals that would break my intermittent fasting. No matter how stressed or tired I am, even after a long and hard day, I've always prioritized cooking over all other activities, at weekends I could spent hours in the kitchen preparing meals for the day and materials for the next week. What I usually make is just some simple common dishes such as chicken casserole, garden salad or flan custard, but the process is very awarding, even therapeutic, it calms me down and brings me peace. It's not a chore, but a ritual, and since it keeps me busy, the opportunity cost of it actually saves me from a lot of other unprofitable and addictive activities that are a huge waste of time.

And so here comes the next topic in the title, Grace Before Meal. Just a simple prayer to express my gratitude to the Lord, as instructed in Colossians 3:17 - "Whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, give thanks to God our Father through Him." I know this is a longstanding Catholic ritual, but PLEASE, don't go there and don't bring on any labels. I'm here on this topic just to share a simple testimony. I've never had any Catholic upbringing or influence in my life, but moved by the Holy Spirit, I genuinely wanna thank the Lord for this meal in front of me. I just feel the compelling urge to do this before I dig in, and there's no such feelings if I eat at a diner or take delivery, because in that case, I ought to thank the cook who actually made that meal, don't you think? But for a homecooked meal, I gotta give credits to whom credits are due, for He is Yehowah Jireh, my provider.

 

[Br. Bear]

Greetings,

thank you for sharing this with us

when we stop and think about it, unless we grow and harvest or catch the meal we are to eat, there are often many, many people involved in so many different aspects of getting a meal to the table.
Even plates, pots and pans and cutlery can be something involved... where did they come from, who made them and how many different 'stages' of their production and transport etc.

And to think that the Lord has provided all those many people, sufficient for you to be able to sit and eat the meal in front of you. He is good.

Give thanks to the Lord for He is good, His merciful lovingkindness endures for ever.

How precious are Thy thoughts unto me, O God, if i should count them, they would be more in number than the sand

Bless you ....><>

 

[Jonathan_Gale]

Greetings,

thank you for sharing this with us

when we stop and think about it, unless we grow and harvest or catch the meal we are to eat, there are often many, many people involved in so many different aspects of getting a meal to the table.
Even plates, pots and pans and cutlery can be something involved... where did they come from, who made them and how many different 'stages' of their production and transport etc.

And to think that the Lord has provided all those many people, sufficient for you to be able to sit and eat the meal in front of you. He is good.

Give thanks to the Lord for He is good, His merciful lovingkindness endures for ever.

How precious are Thy thoughts unto me, O God, if i should count them, they would be more in number than the sand

Bless you ....><>

You see, the most amazing thing is not even this meal itself or the cooking process, but the power of the Holy Spirit that guides me to it. To be honest, cooking is not new for me, but it had been just one hobby among many idols. I used to watch a lot of abominable stuffs that I shouldn't be watching and took pleasure in it, then the Holy Spirit opened my eyes to see what they really are, and OVER TIME I've just lost interest in them as they've lost their appeal to me. But God didn't just leave me with this void though, for He surely knows that nature abhors a vacuum. So His Holy Spirit just led me to all those podcasts that raise my awareness of health and expose me to the truth about processed food, it rekindled my passion for cooking, and once I've started and literally tasted my success, that set me in a new direction, pulling me out of darkness.

This is a process of sanctification that I've been through. Those idols don't just go away in one day. I gotta admit that I used to be a porn addict, then only softcore porn, meaning nudity only without any sexual act; then some action, thriller and other R rated movies for a thrill, then old comedies like Friends for nostalgia's sake, then Hallmark movies only where there's no negativity, and now the only kind of video that I watch with undivided attention from the start to the end is cooking tutorial. Not fake cooking show, but real cooking tutorial. The Holy Spirit has made me realize that all those other stuffs are just an illusion, only this cooking lesson is a real blessing that I could use in my life to improve my skill and help me to serve others.