The Two Soups Challenge - Step 4: Get Some Food Involved

 "John answered 'Anyone who has two shirts should share with the one who has none and anyone who has food should do the same'"

Luke 3 v11

Step 4 is this...

 bring some food into whatever it is that you and your friend are doing. 

This can be anything from a light lunch to a full on feast. A meal together or a meal made for someone else.

I don't know what activity you and your friend are doing, but now you need to factor in some kind of food based element to it. Maybe you go for a coffee after you shop together (and a cake!). Maybe you pop out for lunch after you walk the dogs - or take your sarnies with you? Maybe you decide to provide a meal for someone else you both know, this can be bought or made, and it doesn't have to be for someone who is particularly in need (although this is a lovely thing), it can just be because you want to bless someone. There are a couple of ladies in my church family who I often open the door to and find them clutching a bag of shopping - "Just a few bits" they say, or they pop a corned beef pie (my husbands fav) into my fridge as they help themselves to a cuppa, for no reason other than they thought of me as they were shopping or rolling out pastry. And I love it! Not cos I've run out of tea bags or have a desperate hankering for pie but because in the craziness of my day, the tears, the worry and the graft, someone has shown me love. And it's both humbling and wonderful.

Food features a lot in the bible. One of the criticisms that Jesus himself received was that he ate and drank too much. Eating in the bible is more than just filling hungry tummies (although there is that element too - think of those 5000 people with the tiny picnic). In the Old Testament it was a sign of covenant, in the New, it was a sign of acceptance (which is why the Pharisees had such a problem with Jesus chowing down with prostitutes).

Now food is a tricky subject. Eating Disorders, obesity and the cost of living crisis mean that eating is not always a simple task. It can be fraught with difficulties and stress. 

Fundamentally, however, God made us so we need to re-fuel periodically through the day, of that we can all agree. And there is a great many things that food with or for someone else can give other than sustenance. Encompassing food into your day is an effort. It requires thought, planning, time and money. By eating with someone or dropping round a meal, either cos they're struggling or when they're fine, says "I've been thinking of you, I care about you, I want you to know you're loved" it tells someone without using any fancy words, "You are important to me" this is why it was to fundamental in biblical society, and why it was so controversial when you were effectively saying this to the 'wrong' people. This element of food is going to come into it's own in our next and final step.

You may find that you already eat with your friend in some form during the week, one of the most interesting things I noticed when I became a Christian was there was a lot of food involved, anyway, if this is already happening with your friend, guess who that makes you this week...that's right..