Previous Challenge Entry (Level 2 – Intermediate)
Topic: GLUTTONY (overindulgence and overconsumption) (01/15/15)
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TITLE: No Seconds For Me | Previous Challenge Entry
By Terrie Ellington
01/20/15 -
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“Good morning class!” Mrs. Fuller called out cheerfully above the chatter of conversation as the students visited amongst themselves before class.
Hearing her voice, the students hurried to their seats as they replied in unison, “Good morning, Mrs. Fuller!”
“Welcome to Sunday school! It’s time for class to start.” The students, now quiet, gave her their attention, and after a brief prayer Mrs. Fuller started the lesson. “Today we’re going to talk about gluttony,” she stated while writing on the dry erase board with a black marker in large bold letters. “Who can tell me what gluttony is,” she asked?
Joyce, a sassy-mouthed sixteen year old, quickly raised her hand. “It’s when you’re being greedy and you eat so much until you’re stuffed and your stomach hurts, and all you wanna do is get…… that….. siesta; that nap!” she replied yawning loudly.
As the class roared with laughter, Mrs. Fuller replied, “That’s a pretty good answer Joyce, but is that all there is to gluttony or is there more to it than that?” Joyce raise her hand again. “Someone else please,” Mrs. Fuller stated quickly with a smile.
Leroy, the class intellect, chimed in, “I think when you get excessively more than you need of ANYTHING its gluttony. It’s when you over-consume something that you really like because it makes you feel good in the moment. It’s really a self-gratifying indulgence of pleasure.”
Mrs. Fuller clearly impressed with his answer says, “Great answer Leroy! Our appetite for pleasure is insatiable; it can’t be satisfied. Gluttony happens when we are trying to feed that insatiable appetite for pleasure. It’s really a form of self-idolatry where we do what we want, when we want and how we want with a total disregard for God or others. Gluttony equates to being a lack of self-control in getting the things we enjoy. That’s why food gluttons become overweight, drug gluttons become addicts, alcohol gluttons become drunkards. We become gluttonous when we allow our enjoyment of anything to dictate how much we indulge ourselves with it. “
Bernard, who considers himself a food connoisseur (weighing in at close to two hundred pounds) timidly raised his hand asking, “Mrs. Fuller, didn’t God make food to feed us, and drugs to heal us, AND didn’t Jesus make wine for a party?” to which his friend in front of him turned around and gave him a high five.
Candidly, Mrs. Fuller replied, “You are correct Bernard; any of these things are alright when used appropriately and in moderation. Gluttony is indulging in excess. Satan takes what God made as intrinsically good and compels us to sin with God’s good thing as we overindulge to our own delight. Nevertheless, God gave us a free will, so each of us is only tempted when we are dragged away by our own evil desire and enticed.”
Joyce blurted out, “Why does God care about how we eat or drink anyway?”
Patiently, Mrs. Fuller answered, “Joyce, God wants us to honor Him in ALL that we do. Turn in your Bible to I Corinthians 10:31 and read aloud to the class please.”
Thumbing through her Bible trying to find I Corinthians, Joyce finally asked Leroy for help and then read, “So then whether you eat or drink or whatever you may do, do all for the honor and glory of God.”
Mrs. Fuller continued, “We honor God by doing all things decently and in order and that includes being good stewards to our bodies by eating in moderation to maintain a healthy weight, staying away from illegal drug use, and for you guys staying away from alcohol, period. Does everyone understand?” she asked with compassion.
Again in unison they replied, “Yes ma’am.”
“Good, then we’ll stop here for today. Next Sunday, each of you bring a Scripture about gluttony or greed to share with the class and tell what you did differently this week to avoid being gluttonous with your eating or drinking.” After a brief prayer, class was dismissed.
That evening for dinner Bernard ate one heaping plate of food and then got up to leave. Noticing this, his mother asks, “Are you okay Bernard? I fixed your favorite meal today and you only ate one helping. You always eat at least two helpings. Don’t you want any more?”
“I’m fine Mama, but no seconds for me. I want to avoid gluttony to honor God with my eating like I learned in Sunday school today.”
Fiction
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