Above is the Food Pyramid. It mentions all the 4 major food groups, but it is also a good way to represent how I think that we need to spend our religious walk.
Grains
The largest part of the pyramid, Grains are the most essential part to every diet. Grains are usually needed to help build carbohydrates, strengthening the digestive track of the body. Basically, without them, we have a hard time using the bathroom (no pun intended).
The "Grain" section of religion is basically what we need to survive. Our main walk with Christ and prayer fall into this category. Prayer is something that I think everyone needs to do more of, especially myself. I, sometimes, feel like we treat prayer as an annoyance or a hindrance. In reality, without prayer, our relationship with our Lord and Savior turns into soggy mush. We need these "carbs" to hold together our bond with Jesus Christ.
Fruits & Vegetables
Without fruits and veggies, we wouldn't have a very strong immune system. If none of us got them, we'd all have to be very careful around each other because we wouldn't be able to fight off any disease. As a little kid, you HATED your vegetables! Your parents always had to sneak them in your food when you weren't looking, or cover them in cheese so that it didn't taste as bad. However, your mom always knew what was best, and they helped you to become big and strong to fight off infections.
I think this category very well represents church and preaching. I'll be honest, I'm human. And like most humans in a small church, I, sometimes, have a very difficult time paying attention. No offense to my preacher at all or the Bible, but there are just some parts of the Bible that are boring to read, boring to listen to, and really difficult to focus on. However, these parts of the Bible that may seem dull and almost ridiculous to talk about help to strengthen our faith. These simple stories help us to deal with life challenges as they come to us. They may be hard to swallow sometimes, and don't taste very good going down, but without them, we would be living in extremely shallow religion.
Dairy
Everyone enjoys a nice glass of milk! Especially with cookies! Personally, I don't even mind a little cheese stick late at night, it fills me up and helps me sleep. Yet, have you ever gone a whole entire day eating JUST dairy products? If you haven't, DON'T DO IT! You will be absolutely sick to your stomach! Despite that, dairy is the number one source for calcium, which helps build strong bones and make us less fragile to injury.
Dairy is symbolic with a relationship with a fellow brother or sister in Christ. They are fun to be around, help you when you're sad, and help you recover from a rough fall to bounce back. Even after you've had those sweets, which we'll get to later, it's always good to have that healthy source of milk to help it go down easy. However, if you build a relationship with just christian people, it won't end up well for several reasons. Remember, Christians are humans too, and as humans, we tend to falter and make mistakes. No one is perfect. As sad as it is, sometimes those people who you put all your trust and faith into can let you down. It is also important to have other friends that aren't christian people, or else witnessing will become a lot harder! I'm sure you can think of other reasons.
Meat
Every single guy reading this blog LOVES meat. Whether it's rib, steak, pork chops, fried chicken, or even ham, guys LOVE meat! Some girls love meat too, almost as much as some guys. Not only does everyone like some sort of meat (even vegetarians, don't lie!), they only like it if it is a certain way. FOR EXAMPLE. I love my BBQ soaked in sauce. The more wet the rib is, the more I'll enjoy it. I can settle for a dry rib, but it's just not the same. I'm satisfied and all, but it's not nearly as good as it could be.
I'll be honest. Right when I started the "meat section", I had no idea what it would represent, but as I got to thinking, it became pretty obvious.
Meat represents Eros love, or love for your husband/wife/boyfriend/girlfriend. More so sex. It seems like guys enjoy women more than women enjoy men; that's just how GOD built us. Even in high school, it is more frowned upon if a girl has sex than it is a guy. Just like in the meat eating department (Sure, why not call it that!). You are more likely to see guys getting a steak than a woman, because it just seems regular. So how does this represent GOD and religion? Well, just like the type of meat we like, cooked or smothered in sauce, we all have a certain way we like it. It's the best way, and it almost seems like that is the way the certain type of meat was meant to be eaten. That's how GOD sees sex. He labels sex as something meant for a man and a woman in the bonds of marriage. It says in 1 Corinthians 7 that sex is meant for marriage. I'll let you read it for yourself since this section is already long enough.
Sweets
Candy. Donuts. Cookies. Sugar. It tastes so good! It's cheaper than a lot of other food. However, eating too much of it can cause dental problems, unhealthy lifestyles, and addiction to a certain type of junk food. It is also the smallest part of the pyramid as most nutritionists say that the less of it you have, the better!
Sweets is a fantastic representation of sin. Sin looks fantastic! It feels fantastic sinning! You can find sin everywhere, and it is always so cheap to pay for. Although, too much sin can lead to a lot of very dangerous things such as physical or sexual abuse, addiction, or even death of yourself or others. Once you get into sin, it's really hard to come out of. Thankfully, we have all the other food groups and separate parts of religion to help us bounce back from those downfalls. However, sometimes, we can get so deep in sin, there is no solution, and the end result is Hell. Not something I wanna dip my finger into.
Conclusion
In conclusion, religion is a very complex thing. Sometimes, it takes a lot of work to have a strong, healthy walk with Christ, but in the end, it's all worth it. We feel better about our lives, we're happier, and others will see how happy we've become. So I encourage you to try and live a healthy religious life!
