In recent years, America's preoccupation with food has resulted in an astounding three million people suffering from overweight or serious eating disorders. Because of this obsession with food in our society, none of us are immune to the possibility of experiencing similar problems.

What priority does food have in our lives? Does it have an unhealthy stronghold in our minds? Does it replace a need that God should be filling? Does the craving for food supersede our craving for God and His will for our life? We have to make choices so overindulgence won't hurt our bodies or control our lives. Ask yourself, is this a hunger pang or a compulsion? Is it an action that liberates or condemns?

God gives us a guideline of proper priorities when He tells us, "Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness; for they shall be filled" (Matthew 5:6).

When our life is balanced and our priorities are in order - when we hunger and thirst for the things of God first and foremost - then we will be truly satisfied and we will not be driven by a compulsive appetite. Before you go to sleep, ask God to direct your priorities from this day on. Ask Him to regulate your appetite and show you what is best for your own body. With His power working on your behalf, you can be set free from compulsions - and be free of condemnation to eat in balance - of the real food of life, the food that fills and more than satisfies: God's righteousness.

Heavenly Father, forgive me for using food to provide inner satisfaction that only You can fulfill in my life. I renounce its obsessive hold on my mind and body, and ask for Your healing. Help me to please You and to make the right choices for my body's perfect health. Thank you for my victory! In Jesus' Name, Amen.