Nougat 26

Hello my dear

How are you? The times in which we now live may be a bit scary, but for God. As we try to make sense of it, we may also be seeking direction on the way forward. Our reflections on our call is one way to approach this. If so, please join me in thinking about what we eat as God’s called in today’s Holy Nougat

“John wore clothes made from camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey.” Mark‬ ‭1:6‬ ‭TLV‬‬

It is quite easy for any (all) of us to get stuck on the locusts aspect of John’s diet. For some, we balk at the idea of locusts as it isn’t part of our traditional fare. Others go as far as to justify locust as being a plant that yielded a fruit resembling the locust. Some of us balk only at eating the same food every single day of our lives. We desire variety of sorts. And of course, several of us fail to see the big deal. It’s just food.

Whatever our view, it is worth remembering that the author intentionally included John’s diet in the text. In my quest to unearth the mystery, I realized that John is cast as ‘modern’ Elijah, the mighty prophet of God who stood up to kings and struck fear and terror in the hearts of many.

Of course there are differences between the two. Although their dress was similar, and both embraced the ascetic life, we know that Elijah’s wilderness stint only lasted for a part of the famine (1 Kings 17). John seems to have made his home in the wilderness. And as strange as John’s diet may seem; Elijah was fed bread and meat delivered by ravens twice daily! Yet, one cannot escape noticing that operatively, both were fed by God.

And that is critical for us to note. For John was not operating under literal famine conditions as Elijah did. But there was a famine nevertheless; a spiritual famine that foreshadowed a showdown even more cataclysmic than Elijah and the prophets of Baal. I suspect that John was in the wilderness for that reason. His diet served thus as a prophetic sign for those who cared to pay attention.

We are also at the brink of a major world transforming spiritual battle. And no, this is not merely about the virus or vaccine. There are several signs suggesting that Christ’s return is imminent. We too have the opportunity to retreat to the wilderness; feeding on bread and meat or locusts and wild honey or whatever else we are called to feast on spiritually. If nothing else my dear, we MUST feed on a steady diet of God’s Word – Jesus Christ, Body and Blood as well as the written Word – to gain spiritual strength and prowess in these times.

On what are we feeding these days?

In Christ’s love and grace . . .