Fat Souls Are a Blessing

(Proverbs 11:25 KJV)  The liberal soul shall be made fat: and he that watereth shall be watered also himself.

The first part of this verse was examined last month.

On the idea of being “fat” (prosperous NASB) (1878) the KJV hits it right on, calling it “fat,” but for the wrong reason.  You see, in the 17th century, in fact throughout most of human history, being fat was considered a sign of prosperity and blessing.  Fat was beautiful.  Really.  It was hard to attain and showed that you did not have to work so hard that you were skinny.  Look at the artwork of the past.  Plumb was prosperity.

Today in our leisure culture skinny has become the sign of the wealthy and powerful.  We have the well known problems of anorexia and bulimia.  We have people getting addicted to drugs in an effort to take off pounds.  We have entire industries dealing with what is usually a problem of self control.

That self control would come with less difficulty if our souls were fat instead of our body.  You see fat has three biological purposes, all of them are beneficial.  Fat stores energy for times of scarcity.  Fat provides insulation against cold.  Fat provides padding against a world of sharp edges.  Spiritual fat can do all of those things but in addition it is something that can be shared and it makes the lives of every one better. 

Spiritual fat comes from being a blessing to others.

So?  Seek spiritual fat.  It doesn’t come through donuts and pizza but through giving of yourself to others.  And when you are involved with others you sometimes don’t think to have another bag of chips or if you do you share them and only eat half.  Apply it.