Zechariah 7:6

And when you eat and when you drink, do you not eat for yourselves and drink for yourselves?

Verse Reflections:  So often I am too conscious of others when I eat or drink.  I am conscious that someone brought a great wine for me to taste, someone worked hard on the meal, the desert, or the casserole…  I was raised in the South and we are often defined by the foods we cook or bring to the party.  We believe that true hospitality includes having to try everyone’s dish and spread the compliments because the cooks are watching.  Now that I am older and border-line diabetic I have to change my entire mindset.  I cannot eat all the casseroles and all the deserts.  I have done that for decades and it has caught up with me.  Today, this verse reminds me that I need to eat and drink for myself.  I need to treasure my health first.  That means if I have to skip Susan’s homemade rolls or Dianna’s grandmother’s pound cake recipe it is okay and they will understand.  Their world does not revolve around me but mine does.  God have shown me what to do. I have to be strong enough to make my long term goal of being healthy the directive for my eating and drinking choices.

Prayer:  Thank You Father for the reminder that I must be true to myself first.  You know this goes against all that I have been taught in the Southern lifestyle.  I will truly have to adjust my thoughts, my developed instinct of having a piece of everyone’s dish they worked so hard on.  Give me this verse in my heart when I reach for the serving.  I know how to be healthy.  Now help me take it to the next level of not thinking of others when I make the choices that are best for my own singular health.  I do not have to have a glass of wine every time others are.  I do not have to have a piece of the cake that was made for the event.  But God, I need Your help to implement this plan, this verse.  Help me to eat and drink for myself, for my health and dedicate it to Your glory.