Buffet Your Body, Don’t Buffét Your Body

David W Palmer

(John 12:37–38 APE) And whereas he did all these miracles before them, they did not trust in him, {38} That the word of Isaiah the Prophet might be fulfilled, which says, “My Lord, who is believing our report and to whom is the arm of the Lord Jehovah revealed?”

When God spoke from heaven in an audible voice, many said it thundered (John 12:28–29). When Jesus did “all these miracles before them,” they simply didn’t put their trust in him. As it says in Hebrews:

(Hebrews 4:2 NKJV) For indeed the gospel was preached to us as well as to them; but the word which they heard did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in those who heard it.

God did his part: he sent Jesus, gave his message, and confirmed it with signs and wonders; he even spoke in a loud audible voice, but some people simply didn’t believe. Why? How could this happen? The Holy Spirit went on to explain:

(John 12:39–40 APE) Therefore they were not able to believe, because again Isaiah had said: {40} “They have put out their eyes and darkened their hearts lest they shall see with their eyes and understand in their hearts and should be converted and I would heal them.”

The Holy Spirit quoted from the Old Testament prophet Isaiah to explain why so many people didn’t believe, even when they experienced God’s supernatural manifestations. It also shows that God completely understands human nature; Isaiah prophesied this hundreds of years in advance, showing that God knew what would happen when Jesus came declaring his message and showing his glory.

Isaiah’s passage says that by the lifestyle and choices of many people, they would blind their own spiritual eyes to the truth and deafened their own ears. He emphasized that, as a result, they had “darkened” their own hearts. This means that by their own foolish mindset and lifestyle, they had blocked God’s light from entering the hidden man of their hearts. This left them completely at the disposal of the “rulers of the darkness of this age” (Eph. 6:12 NKJV). In other words, they were in a mess; and because of their own choices—leading to lack of perception and faith—God was unable to heal them.

This agrees completely with what Jesus had said earlier:

(Matthew 13:15 NKJV) “For the hearts of this people have grown dull. Their ears are hard of hearing, And their eyes they have closed, Lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears, Lest they should understand with their hearts and turn, So that I should heal them.”

The devil is responsible for a lot of the thieving and thwarting of God’s word—preventing it from coming to fruitful harvest in the soil of human hearts. But here, Jesus says that some of the problem was a result of unwise people’s own volitions: “Their eyes they have closed!”

As we draw closer to Jesus’s return, he warned that this problem will grow worse:

(Luke 21:34 NKJV) “But take heed to yourselves, lest your hearts be weighed down with carousing, drunkenness, and cares of this life, and that Day come on you unexpectedly.”

(Luke 21:34–36 MSG) “But be on your guard. Don’t let the sharp edge of your expectation get dulled by parties and drinking and shopping. Otherwise, that Day is going to take you by complete surprise, spring on you suddenly like a trap, for it’s going to come on everyone, everywhere, at once. So, whatever you do, don’t go to sleep at the switch. Pray constantly that you will have the strength and wits to make it through everything that’s coming and end up on your feet before the Son of Man.”

Jesus is clear in his intent; don’t allow your spiritual perception and vigilance to be dulled through your choices. In this version, he warns of “parties, drinking, and shopping.” The fleshly overindulgence drains your whole system’s focus from the things of the spirit. The opposite is fasting; it weakens the flesh so the spirit is predominant.

Furthermore, I’m sure the enemy uses worldly entertainments of all kinds to keep people’s attention and focus away from spiritual priorities. We need to stay tuned to our spirit man, and to be constantly downloading revelation from heaven. This is the only way to ensure we have all the light we need to keep from stumbling in these treacherous end times.

I encourage you today; keep your eyes and ears firmly tuned to the Holy Spirit. Keep your focus on heaven and on heaven’s revelation. And keep walking in the spirit, being led by the Holy Spirit. Jesus put it like this:

(Matthew 6:21–22 NKJV) “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. {22} The lamp of the body is the eye. If therefore your eye is good, your whole body will be full of light.”

The Master encourages us to get our treasure into heaven. This way, our heart will be anchored in heaven, and thus, our focus will be there too—and it will stay there. Jesus went on to say that as a result, our “eye” will be “good,” and our “whole body will be full of light.” In other words, we will be receiving all the revelation we need for every area of our lives.

To stay spiritually alert and to keep himself on the cutting edge of expectation and holiness, the apostle Paul had an important strategy:

(1 Corinthians 9:27 DBY) But I buffet my body, and lead it captive, lest after having preached to others I should be myself rejected.

Paul is not talking about the Buffét of fine dining and unlimited indulgence that leads to spiritual dullness. He is talking about the self-inflicted punches of buffeting—the tough Spartan treatment of his physical body to keep it under subjection. He did this so his spirit man could be dominant. In other words, Paul knew he had to be hard on his flesh so he wouldn’t be “rejected”—even after having been a preacher.

Today, I believe Jesus is bringing this up to remind us that getting to the end successfully, without being “rejected” at the finish line, is going to take full spiritual alertness and focus. To this end, he reminded us twice of what Isaiah prophesied:

(Isaiah 6:10 New Heart English Bible) The heart of this people has grown dull, and their ears sluggish, and they have closed their eyes, otherwise they might see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and turn back, and I would heal them.”

If we foolishly close our spiritual eyes and ears, and if we unwisely over burden ourselves with fleshly indulgence, we will cut ourselves off from God’s power. This would be extremely asinine behavior, because right now we need his grace, power, wisdom, and love like never before.

No matter what anyone else says or does, let’s resolve to live a fasted lifestyle, and stay prayed up, in love with Jesus, and walking in the spirit. Let’s commit ourselves to remaining spiritually alert and vigilant right up to the coming of the Lord. To this end, we need to keep our treasure in heaven, our hearts clean, and our eyes fixed firmly on Jesus, the Living Word of God.

(Hebrews 12:1–2, 12–13 NLT) Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. {2} We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith. Because of the joy awaiting him, he endured the cross, disregarding its shame. Now he is seated in the place of honor beside God’s throne. ... {12} So take a new grip with your tired hands and strengthen your weak knees. {13} Mark out a straight path for your feet so that those who are weak and lame will not fall but become strong.