As we begin the New Year, many of our resolutions will focus on eating less food and losing the extra pounds gained from overeating during the holidays. When you consider how much of our lives is spent eating food, it's no surprise that Jesus challenges us to think about food in new ways. Before considering Jesus' unique perspective on food, let's hear what my friends had to say about what they consider the favorite food of heaven.

"The fruit that was growing on the tree in the middle of the garden was God's favorite," says Laia, 14. "God didn't want Adam and Eve to eat it because it was His tree."

Kate, 6, disagrees. "God's favorite food is goldfish because the streets are paved with gold."

Philip, 12, says everyone is wrong. God doesn't have time to eat because we keep him very busy. "God does not have a favorite food. He doesn't eat because he is always watching over us."

Yes, God is always watching over us, but he's not trapped by his responsibilities. Jesus took time to enjoy meals with his disciples. In Jesus' time, eating together expressed that you have a relationship with someone. The ancients might change our modern saying "you are what you eat" to "you are the people with whom you eat."

Jesus astonished everyone when he accepted a dinner invitation from a tax collector named Levi. As much as people hate taxes today, it was worse in ancient Israel. Jewish tax collectors were considered traitors working for foreign oppressors. Many became wealthy by fleecing their own countrymen.

The Pharisees — religious leaders — recoiled in shock when they saw Jesus eating with tax collectors. Later, Jesus described the righteousness of the Pharisees as a cup that's clean on the outside but dirty on the inside (Luke 11:39).

According to Jesus, the way to get clean on the outside is to be clean on the inside. And for that, it is necessary to eat bread, but not like any bread you've ever bought at the grocery store.

Emily, 12, is on to something when she says: "God's favorite food is bread because he saved the Israelites with manna (a kind of bread). And, he had the Passover with his disciples sharing the bread, which was the symbol of his body. That was the last food he ate before he died on the cross to save us from our sins."

Several times Jesus compared himself to bread: "I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never hunger, and he who believes in me will never thirst" (John 6:35). At the Passover meal before his death, Jesus took bread, broke it, gave it to his disciples and said, "This is my body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of me" (Luke 22:19).

So if Jesus' body is symbolic of bread, what is Jesus saying to us? During Jesus' ministry he turned down an offer of food from his disciples by saying: "I have food of which you do not know. My food is to do the will of him who sent me" (John 4:32, 34).

Think about this: As we need bread to live, we need to do the will of God to really live. First, we believe in Jesus to receive eternal life. Then, we grow in his grace to experience the abundant life of letting Jesus live through you.

Memorize this truth: John 6:35 quoted above.

Ask this question: What kind of spiritual food have you been eating?

Listen to a talking book, download the "Kids Color Me Bible" for free, watch Kid TV Interviews and travel around the world by viewing the "Mission Explorers Streaming Video" at www.KidsTalkAboutGod.org. Bible quotations are from the New King James Version. To find out more about Carey Kinsolving and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.