1 Timothy 4:4–5
For 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.
Food is made holy by the word of God and prayer. The word of God has declared all foods good. The Bible says so. In the beginning He provided all kinds of vegetable life for food. After the Fall, He provided animals for clothing and required animals for sacrifice. After the flood, He declared that the menu now included animals and Jesus during His earthly ministry opened up the menu to all that is edible.
Mark 7:18-19
And Jesus said to them, "Then are you also without understanding? Do you not see that whatever goes into a man from outside cannot defile him, since it enters, not his heart but his stomach, and so passes on?" (Thus he declared all foods clean.)
So food is made holy by the Word of God. This has been declared prior to your plate. It has been served up before you sit down to table. The food has already been blessed by God before you add salt.
Given that, it is appropriate for us to bless it and those sitting around it by saying grace over it. The food is already blessed, but we add our agreement to it. We say a blessing not because without it the food would be tainted, but because without grateful hearts, we would be. We say grace before meals for our sake, not the meal's. The food would not ruin us, but it would be ruinous to receive such goodness without feeling and expressing gratitude for it.
So say grace over your food. Not because you have to, but because you get to. You get to eat. You have been given an expansive menu and every item on it has already been declared good by Someone who knows a little something about the subject. So enjoy. Count the blessings instead of the calories. Anytime you eat, you're eating food from holy foods.
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