No Clue

~Jude 1.12

These people (people who, v4, pervert the grace of our God into a license for immorality and deny Jesus Christ our only Sovereign and Lord, and, ungodly people who, v8, pollute their own bodies and reject authority) are blemishes at your love feasts, eating with you without the slightest qualm—shepherds who feed only themselves. They are clouds without rain, blown along by the wind; autumn trees, without fruit and uprooted —twice dead.

Here is no hint of what was actually eaten at the "love feasts," just a warning about who may show up to eat there. Also another food analogy. As my pastors like to say, "healthy living things reproduce."

Craving

~I John 2.15-17

The world offers only a craving for physical pleasure, a craving for everything we see . . . . These are not from the Father, but are from this world. And this world is fading away, along with everything that people crave. But anyone who does what pleases God will live forever.

My biggest craving struggles are with sweet foods: ice cream, cookies, brownies, blueberry pie. Robert Lustig, professor of clinical pediatrics at UC San Francisco, argues that sugar is a toxin, with a metabolic function similar to alcohol.

FYI, here are some of the things I do fairly well at avoiding and have come to not crave as much:
1. sweet drinks--save those calories for chocolate :-]
2. sweet breakfast cereal, except maybe as a dessert later in the day
3. high-calorie, store-bought, white-flour, white-sugar, no-fiber products
4. candy, except fair-trade, extra dark chocolate
5. artificial sweeteners
6. sweets before lunch, except fruit

I try to switch off to fruit, dried fruit, nuts. Really, there are so many good things to eat. My occasional homemade goodies are high-fiber and cut-to-half sugar. Dark-chocolate-covered almonds, my favorite, get a pass.

Still, I crave sweet things, especially chocolate and ice cream, and sometimes it's hard. During my lunch, I'll think ahead to what I can have after I eat all the yummy veggies. sigh.

Fruit of Salvation

~Philippians 1.11

May you always be filled with the fruit of your salvation—the righteous character produced in your life by Jesus Christ—for this will bring much glory and praise to God.

Another analogy: as the fruit of trees is a benefit, so should the fruit of our lives be.

Food = Pleasure

~Romans 1:13 I do not want you to be unaware, brothers and sisters, that I planned many times to come to you . . . in order that I might have a harvest among you, just as I have had among the other Gentiles. NIV

~Romans 1.13 I want you to know, dear brothers and sisters, that I planned many times to visit you, but I was prevented until now. I want to work among you and see spiritual fruit, just as I have seen among other Gentiles. NLB

~Romans 1.13 Please don't misinterpret my failure to visit you, friends. You have no idea how many times I've made plans for Rome. I've been determined to get some personal enjoyment out of God's work among you, as I have in so many other non-Jewish towns and communities. But something has always come up and prevented it. The Message

Paul refers to his beloved new believers as fruit or as a harvest, again using a satisfying food analogy to communicate pleasure.

Don't muzzle the ox, Mom!

~I Corinthians 9.3-4, 7-10

This is my answer to those who question my authority. Don’t we have the right to live in your homes and share your meals? . . . . What farmer plants a vineyard and doesn’t have the right to eat some of its fruit? What shepherd cares for a flock of sheep and isn’t allowed to drink some of the milk? Am I expressing merely a human opinion, or does the law say the same thing? For the law of Moses says, “You must not muzzle an ox to keep it from eating as it treads out the grain.” Was God thinking only about oxen when he said this? Wasn’t he actually speaking to us? Yes, it was written for us, so that the one who plows and the one who threshes the grain might both expect a share of the harvest.

~I Corinthians 9.11-14

Since we have planted spiritual seed among you, aren’t we entitled to a harvest of physical food and drink? . . . . Don’t you realize that those who work in the temple get their meals from the offerings brought to the temple? And those who serve at the altar get a share of the sacrificial offerings. In the same way, the Lord ordered that those who preach the Good News should be supported by those who benefit from it.

~I Timothy 5.17-19

The elders who direct the affairs of the church well are worthy of double honor, especially those whose work is preaching and teaching. For Scripture says, “Do not muzzle an ox while it is treading out the grain,” (Deuteronomy 25.4) and “The worker deserves his wages” (Luke 10.7)

~II Timothy 2.6

And hardworking farmers should be the first to enjoy the fruit of their labor.

Our kids loved to remind me of this ox when they were mixing up a batch of cookies or biscuits as a reason for helping themselves to the dough. It's a reasonable point. Paul uses it twice. :-]

Grapes

~John 15:1-8 “I am the true grapevine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch of mine that doesn’t produce fruit, and he prunes the branches that do bear fruit so they will produce even more. You have already been pruned and purified by the message I have given you. Remain in me, and I will remain in you. For a branch cannot produce fruit if it is severed from the vine, and you cannot be fruitful unless you remain in me.
“Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing. Anyone who does not remain in me is thrown away like a useless branch and withers. Such branches are gathered into a pile to be burned. But if you remain in me and my words remain in you, you may ask for anything you want, and it will be granted! When you produce much fruit, you are my true disciples. This brings great glory to my Father.

God must value grapes to use them for his fruitfulness analogy.

Fig

Jesus refers to fig trees several times.

~Matthew 21.18-22 and Mark 11.12-14 and 20-25 record his cursing of the tree which was out in full leaf, but bearing no fruit.

~Luke 13.6-9 Parable of the Barren Fig Tree Then Jesus told this story: “A man planted a fig tree in his garden and came again and again to see if there was any fruit on it, but he was always disappointed. Finally, he said to his gardener, ‘I’ve waited three years, and there hasn’t been a single fig! Cut it down. It’s just taking up space in the garden.’
“The gardener answered, ‘Sir, give it one more chance. Leave it another year, and I’ll give it special attention and plenty of fertilizer. If we get figs next year, fine. If not, then you can cut it down.’”

Both of these emphasize the importance of fulfilling purpose, in the case of the fig tree, bearing fruit.

~Mark 13.28 “Now learn a lesson from the fig tree. When its branches bud and its leaves begin to sprout, you know that summer is near."

~Luke 21.28-30 So when all these things begin to happen, stand and look up, for your salvation is near!” Then he gave them this illustration: “Notice the fig tree, or any other tree. When the leaves come out, you know without being told that summer is near."

Here the tree illustrates how to interpret signs.

In other gospel references, Zacchaeus climbs a fig tree to see Jesus (Luke 19) and Nathaniel is impressed that Jesus saw him under a fig tree in John 1.

~Matthew 7.16 You can identify them by their fruit, that is, by the way they act. Can you pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles?
~James 3.12 Does a fig tree produce olives, or a grapevine produce figs? No, and you can’t draw fresh water from a salty spring.

I'm guessing that figs were a commonly eaten fruit of the first-century Middle East and so easily understood as metaphors in making these three points. I don't remember that I've ever had a fresh fig, anything beyond Fig Newtons. :-]

Breakfast in China

We were fortunate to be able to visit China and are just adjusting to return. We enjoyed some fabulous meals there. It's interesting to see the difference from western tastes. Consider breakfast. At home, Americans love their cereal and milk. We did not see this on either of our excursions to China as cold food is not considered a good start to the day. Of course we were mainly having breakfast at hotel buffets, not in homes. Thin, hot rice porridge, congee, served with some minced pork or pickled vegetables, is common. Steamed buns. Cellophane or other noodles. Various preparations of tofu. Fish. Thousand-year eggs. Warm fresh soy milk (yummy!). No dairy except yogurt. Sweet potato. Cabbage. Fruit. These things are commonly seen on a breakfast buffet.

I love some parts of this meal like the just-made soy milk and the sweet potato (or squash). But all the wheat and rice products I saw were processed white--bread, rolls, dumpling and spring roll wrappers, noodles. The first missed item I wanted when I got back home last time was Raisin Bran (labeled Raisin Barn in the one hotel that had it). This time it was just a piece of whole wheat toast.

Fruit tree

~Luke 13.6-9 Then Jesus told this story: “A man planted a fig tree in his garden and came again and again to see if there was any fruit on it, but he was always disappointed. Finally, he said to his gardener, ‘I’ve waited three years, and there hasn’t been a single fig! Cut it down. It’s just taking up space in the garden.’
“The gardener answered, ‘Sir, give it one more chance. Leave it another year, and I’ll give it special attention and plenty of fertilizer. 9 If we get figs next year, fine. If not, then you can cut it down.’”

God must love fruit. It's one of his big examples of how we are to live as his followers. Like a fruit tree, we are to bear fruit too. Our fruit may be good character traits (fruits of the Spirit) or other lost and hungry people shown the way to God's goodness and grace. Perhaps sometimes good deeds can be counted as fruit. A tree or a person that his not bearing fruit is not fulfilling its purpose.

Figs. I really should try one sometime.

What's your fruit?

~Matthew 7.15-20 Watch out for false prophets. . . . . By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? Likewise, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them. Also ~Luke 6.44-45 A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of.

That we can discern something about a person by the "fruit" produced in his or her life has become an accepted principle. In John 4.36 Jesus says the fruit of harvesters is "people brought to eternal life." That's good fruit. The fruit of the spirit listed in Galatians 5--love, joy, peace, etc--is good fruit. Anyone who sows anxiety, strife, and violence would be bearing bad fruit.

Can I say that by my fruit you will know me? What is my fruit? I'm going to have to give that some thought.

As to what I should be eating though, good fruit is definitely on the priority list.

Food as metaphor

~Matthew 3.8 Produce fruit in keeping with repentance.

We are to produce fruit, metaphorically, so God must consider fruit good. Fruit is good.

~Matthew 3.10 The ax is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.

Fruit itself is good, but this verse makes a distinction of “good fruit.” So some fruit can apparently be bad.

~Matthew 3.12 His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor, gathering his wheat into the barn and burning up the chaff with unquenchable fire.

Again we have a food metaphor. God’s followers are like wheat, good and desirable for preserving, but the inedible chaff is just in the way and will be destroyed