Surviving Chaos

In today’s devotions I came across this amazing thought that I simply had to share it.

“I brought with me my teenage son, Bruce. Although he had adapted well to the rigors of desert living, he was constantly wishing (out loud) for a nice ice-cold carbonated drink. Our guide was amused at this “American desire” and pointed out the danger of such a drink in the desert.
‘ It tickles the throat and fools you into thinking your thirst is quenched,’ he said. ‘In the desert you do not drink to satisfy your throat. You drink to replenish the liquid the sun sucks from the cells of your body. Thus you must learn to change your appetite. Instead of drinking to enjoy, you drink to live. [Emphasis Mine] It is far better to drink warm water that will go into your entire system than to satisfy the desire of your throat and run the risk of dehydration.’”
“The carnal appetite, which God was burning from them [Israelites] with His prescribed diet, is never satisfying. It is like the throat that has been tickled by carbonated soda water laced with sugar. It always yearns for more. It causes men to run after every new ‘prophet’ who comes on the scene with a ‘new revelation’ from God. It causes me to trade the written WORD of God for the philosophy of man since it seems more palatable. It causes men to demand melons and meat while disdaining what God had placed before them.”
“But the only way to reach the Promise Land is by eating God’s diet. Leeks, onions and garlic will not get you into Canaan, for that diet is always accompanied by the bondage of Egypt. In the wilderness we must make priority decisions. Are we willing to give up what satisfies the belly in order to have what satisfies the soul?”

A Way Through the Wilderness by Jamie Buckingham (pg 83)