Sacred Enjoyment
Book Club | Eat, Drink & Be Merry: Chapter 6
Week 6 of Book Club has arrived.
We’re almost half way through July. Only one more week of Book Club after this. Summer marches on, making way for fall—the created order cyclically following the pattern determined for her, with us at her mercy.
How’s your summer been?
We’ve been planting trees, gardening, ripping plaster walls out of our house to make way for insulation and new drywall—preparing a place for the boy coming into our world at the end of August.
This is the human appointment—cultivate and subdue the earth, multiply and make a home.
This extraordinary ordinary-life is sacred.
“Everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, for it is made holy by the word of God and prayer.” 1 Timothy 4:4-5
This passage is the focus of chapter 6, and has the potential to transform a person’s whole life.
I was at dinner last night with a group of friends. The place was beautiful—colors chosen with intention, mirrors placed to give the impression of an expanded space, the table made of what seemed to be a big piece of solid oak, and the giant rounded booth was so comfortable you forgot you were sitting on something. The food was delicious. I ordered the filet mignon, one of the most expensive items on the menu, I confess. But it sounded so good.
The question was raised, “Why is it so important for us (humans) to eat together? Is it something God gave us because He knew we would enjoy it? Or did He make us to enjoy it for some reason?”
Good question. We began to discuss our theories.
One of them aligns with our passage in 1 Timothy.
“Everything created by God is good” and “it is made holy by the word of God.”
Ray connects both of these to Genesis 1:31, “God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good.”
God made all of creation good and holy.
Holy means set apart or appointed for a divine purpose.
Creation is set apart for some purpose, and also good.
But what’s it mean that creation is good?
God alone is Good. He is the source and fullness of all that is Good.
Goodness in something is expressed when it fulfills the purpose given to it by the Good One, and when it reflects the Good One in the way it was made to.
Back to dinner.
The beauty of the restaurant is meant to point us to the Source and Fullness of all beauty.
The goodness of the food is given that we would not stop at savoring the salt and fat and sugar, but that we would taste and see that the Lord is good.1
Our eating together while we share conversation and deepen our relationship is an image of the eternal, loving relationship between the three Persons of the Holy Trinity.
The beauty, goodness, and togetherness of that meal was holy—a shadow of the Truly Beautiful, Good, and Together One.
We prayed to God—thanking Him for the delicious food, the friends, and for making us human.
In that moment, we stepped into what Ray calls “the sacred enjoyment” (p.103).
“Everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, for it is made holy by the word of God and prayer.”
When we begin to understand and believe what this passage is teaching us, our enjoyment of God’s good creation can reach it’s fullest potential—to be “lifted into our worship of the Creator” (p.101).
Taste and see that the Lord is good by eating rich food, by sharing meaningful conversations, by beholding beautiful things.
These are a shadow of the things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ.2
What was God teaching you through this chapter? Share your thoughts with us in the comments!!
See you next Saturday (7/18) for Chapter Seven!
Psalm 34:8
Colossians 2:17