At 10:35 this morning I felt hungry and ready for a little snack. I headed for the backroom where I had a jar of dry roasted peanuts stashed in the cupboard. But midway I stopped and asked myself, “Will those 6-8 peanuts you’re going to eat cure this hunger?”

I went back to my chair, sat down, and replied, “No. I’ll only want more peanuts.” I that knew from experience!

It really wouldn’t have mattered much in the big picture of my life if I ate a few peanuts, but occasionally I like to check mortal mind’s reasoning and say no when appetite wants me to say yes.

I didn’t need those peanuts. Yes, I felt hungry. But so what? What are a few hunger pangs between meals? No big deal… I could wait until lunch time to eat.

It makes us stronger to put down temptation when excess bids us to overindulge, I remembered. Every success builds on the last and gives us more dominion over the body, over appetite, over everyday thoughts and actions. God gave us dominion over the earth and this means we have dominion over the body, the stomach, over appetite. I declared with emphasis! They do not have dominion over us, I concluded.

I prayed to know I had all I needed spiritually to be happy and content. I didn’t need a snack to feel any better than God had already made me to feel. I was a spiritually fulfilled child of God, not a forever hungry mortal.

After a few moments of prayer, the hunger went away, and I felt perfectly normal. No talking from the gut, and no desire for a snack.

“That was easy” I rejoiced. And I happily went about my work until the clock struck twelve and it was proper time for lunch.

“Godliness with contentment is great gain.” I Timothy