How Thinking About Food Theologically Leads to Better Health

When we choose to host people in our homes, we want to offer our best, giving our guests special attention and hospitality. That requires forethought and preparation. Before the Lord even created human beings, He, too, took time to prepare a hospitable place for us. Only after creating the light, water, sun, moon, stars, plants, and animals—laying a beautiful foundation for the right kind of nourishment—did God create man. God thought of food as fuel before He made man to need it. Adam was made from the dust of the ground––the very place where God had created plants to grow for people’s nourishment. After making man, God planted a garden and instructed Adam to tend it (Genesis 2:5-15). The Lord gave Adam free rein of his home—except for a single tree. God invited Adam to enjoy everything else in the Garden but warned him that if he ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, he would die.

Realizing that it wasn’t good for Adam to be alone, God made him a helper, Eve. The Garden of Eden gave them full access to abundant life. There they could dwell with God and feast on everything that the earth provided.

Together Adam and Eve, the first man and woman, were to work and sustain the land. Since we are made from the same stuff, it makes sense that we, too, need good food from plants (and animals) in order to function well and heal. Notice that growing and preparing nourishing food has taken time, effort, and work from the very beginning.

Before the fall of man, feasting was beautiful, life-giving, and sustaining. Then Satan in the guise of a serpent entered the Garden and convinced Eve that God was trying to keep something from her and Adam by making one tree off-limits. That tree’s fruit looked good, and Eve wanted to be wise like God, so she ate and gave some to Adam. Their disobedience had cosmic implications, but from their story, we also see that the narrative of self-control and discipline around food is not new. As Joel Soza, an author and professor of biblical studies, notes, “Food, the very substance that gave our first ancestors life in God’s garden, became the very object that led to their death.” Adam and Eve’s disobedience led to immediate consequences.

After the Fall, the nutrients that originally could be harvested with minimal effort now required harder labor. People have always looked for ways to make food production easier, and today’s modern, quick-food lifestyle has taken us far away from how it was supposed to be. Not only do we forget the command to work for our food, but many nutrients are getting lost in pre-packed food-like substances that aren’t real. Our bodies lack many of the necessary enzymes needed to break down these foods. It makes sense that people are getting so sick.

While we still expect to enjoy and be satisfied by our food, we often fail to honor God’s command to eat real food. Instead, we’ve spent years trying to figure out how to cut corners for faster food, more money, and prettier bodies. If we go back to the beginning, we see that in order for food to fuel our bodies the way God intended, we have a responsibility to uphold—one that requires thoughtfulness, time management, discipline, and deep gratitude. A responsibility to think theologically about food.

Adapted from The (Good) Food Solution: A Shame-Free Nutritional Journey to Food Freedom, Spiritual Nourishment, and Whole-Body Heath by Meredyth Fletcher, releasing August 2024.