ALPHA MAAMA (A.M.)

Falaite Sanuali 13, 2023

Take and Eat

To‘o ‘o Kai 

GENESIS 3:6

SO WHEN THE WOMAN SAW THAT THE TREE WAS GOOD FOR FOOD, AND THAT IT WAS A DELIGHT TO THE EYES, AND THAT THE TREE WAS TO BE DESIRED TO MAKE ONE WISE, SHE TOOK OF ITS FRUIT AND ATE, AND SHE ALSO GAVE SOME TO HER HUSBAND WHO WAS WITH HER, AND HE ATE.

SENESI 3:6

Pea na‘e vakai ‘e he fefine ko e ‘akau ia ‘oku lelei ki he kai, pea matamatalelei ki he mata, kae‘uma‘ā ko e ‘akau ke fai ki ai ha vēlevele ko ‘ene fakapoto‘i, pea ne hanga ‘o toli hono fua, ‘o kai, pea ne ‘ange foki ki hono husepāniti na‘e ‘iate ia; pea kai mo ia.

To eat is to akal. When we akal, we acknowledge that all life comes from outside us as a gift. We don't grow vegetables in our hearts or raise cattle in our stomachs. What we eat to live has its origin in the external world. To eat is to acknowledge that we are not self-sufficient. We need God. "The eyes of all look to you, [O Lord,] and you give them their food in due season" (Ps. 145:15). Eve's eyes, however, along with Adam's, were not looking to the Lord. They saw "a delight to the eyes" and played as if they were no longer creatures but aspiring divinities themselves.

Rather than ditching the food approach, however, God used good eating to reverse the effects of this bad eating. He bid the Israelites eat the Passover lamb. He fed them manna and quail. And, finally, to humanity who'd taken and eaten what they should not, he said, "Take, eat; this is my body" (Matt. 26:26). To eat the Messiah is to live forever (John 6:54).

O Lord, "open your hand and satisfy the desires of every living thing" (Ps. 145:16 NIV).