In our “world market” society, we are no longer bound to eat what we can grow locally. We can eat a wide variety of different foods and dishes from cultures and regions all over the world. Not far from the doors of our homes are markets and restaurants selling and serving ingredients and meals from a variety of different cultures. Are you hungry for Italian food? How about African, Mexican or Greek food? What about Asian and all of its sub-groups – Chinese, Japanese, Korean, etc.? Let’s not leave out European and Middle-eastern foods; they’re tasty and readily available also.
No matter which people-group or subgroup you choose, every culture has some staple food and spice combination that is unique and identifying to itself. The basic food or foods around which all the local recipes evolved were those foods that were readily produced or commonly found in abundance where each group of people established their original communities. If a group of people lived by the sea, fish was a large part of their diet; likewise, if a community “put down roots” in a region where the climate and soil were conducive to agriculture, then breads and noodles became a central part of their meals. Depending on the fertility of the region, various local oils, and spices were combined with the regional staples creating the distinct flavors and recipes we now commonly label as “foreign” or ethnic food.
Did you know that there is also a distinct and flavorful food found in the Kingdom of God? Jesus talked about it as He taught His disciples about prayer (Luke 11:1-13). In what is commonly known as the Lord’s prayer, Jesus told us to ask our heavenly Father for the food we need each day, or as it is more traditionally translated, to ask for our daily bread. Normally this is taken to mean physical food, which our heavenly Father does provide. Thank you, Lord! However, Jesus pointed to a greater need and provision for the disciples (us) in His teaching. In verses eleven through thirteen, Jesus compares food given to children by earthly fathers, with the Holy Spirit given to us by our heavenly Father. The inference is that the Holy Spirit is food; it is the food we need - our daily bread! The Holy Spirit is the sustenance, the food, and the fuel in the Kingdom of God. The Holy Spirit fills the body of believers with a banquet of distinct and unique flavors.
In the “world market,” the Christian community has true “foreign” food. God has made it so that the different people-groups no longer need to feed upon their worldly grown food alone. Through Christ, our heavenly Father’s unique and wonderful Kingdom meal is available to everyone, but before I can go “selling and serving” His supernatural ethnic food to the nations, I need to first ask for it myself and fill up on it daily. I find that really savory. I hope you do too.
Bon Appetit and Grace to you.
Dave Paukner
