Friday, February 05, 2010

Everything Is Good!

"The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons. 2Such teachings come through hypocritical liars, whose consciences have been seared as with a hot iron. 3They forbid people to marry and order them to abstain from certain foods, which God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and who know the truth. 4For everything God created is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, 5because it is consecrated by the word of God and prayer." 1 Timothy 4:1-5

Do you ever have those days where you wonder if you do enough? Those moments where you hear about someone else doing something extreme with their faith, and you wonder if maybe you should jump on that bandwagon? Every once in a while, I think of those things, and I do wonder. But then I always come back to the idea that God made me just the way I am- to be the person I am, and that I shouldn't change a thing just because someone else does.

Lately I've been hearing of more and more people who adjust their diets because of something in the Bible- or simply something that they feel about the way God designed our bodies. You can read reports that say that man was never meant to eat meat- that we should all simply eat plants and be vegetarians. You can also read reports that say that God designed our bodies to do its own cooking- so we should eat raw foods only, and let our digestive juices handle all the processing. I've also heard of many people- Christians- who follow a kosher diet, because if there is a reason for it in the Old Testament, if should still be applicable today. Now, I'm certainly not one to tell anyone what to eat or not to eat- I happen to think every single body is different, and what is good for one is not good for all. But here's the thing. I happen to also think that it's wrong to think that because of what I eat or don't eat- that I may fall out of favor with God. Or that maybe if I followed one of these diets that I would be more holy. Maybe I should research and try and eat only foods Jesus would have eaten- after all, isn't our ultimate goal here on earth to be more like Him?

The thing is, what we eat and drink is not tied in any way to our salvation. God didn't say to accept Jesus as our savior- and then stop eating red meat. This verse in 1 Timothy 4 today spoke volumes to me when I read it yesterday- because here it says right here that everything God created for us to eat is good. God created all these different foods- all these different plants for food and animals for food for our dining pleasure. And when we thank Him for what He has provided- he blesses us for that. Here is another passage from the book of Acts that speaks about this very thing.

"About noon the following day as they were on their journey and approaching the city, Peter went up on the roof to pray. 10He became hungry and wanted something to eat, and while the meal was being prepared, he fell into a trance. 11He saw heaven opened and something like a large sheet being let down to earth by its four corners. 12It contained all kinds of four-footed animals, as well as reptiles of the earth and birds of the air. 13Then a voice told him, "Get up, Peter. Kill and eat."

14"Surely not, Lord!" Peter replied. "I have never eaten anything impure or unclean."

15The voice spoke to him a second time, "Do not call anything impure that God has made clean." Acts 10: 9-15

God made everything clean- and God made it all for our enjoyment. Now, if we choose to follow a particular lifestyle for health reasons- or for spiritual reasons (thinking of a fast here), that's our business with God- and not our business to run around telling everyone who chooses to not follow suit that they are committing sin by what they do or do not eat.

You know what I love? Just this week I was thinking that we're getting closer and closer to Passover, and I was thinking about maybe trying to do a Passover meal of some kind this year. And that got me to thinking about cooking in a kosher way, and it really made me wonder if there was any merit to that lifestyle- if we would be better served by doing so. And then I open up my Bible and read this letter to Timothy. I love how God can talk to me about something as trivial as diet through His Word.

Now if only there would be a verse or two that tells me specifics about what I should be looking for in a home... then we would be all set!

No comments: