Morning Moments

1 Timothy 4: 3 ...forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from meats, which God hath created to be received with thanksgiving of them which believe and know the truth. 4 For every creature of God is good, and nothing to be refused, if it be received with thanksgiving: 5 For it is sanctified by the word of God and prayer.

There are many similar passages such as Romans 14:1-4, Acts 10 and 15 that should be considered along with our text. You may wish to read them.

I shall never forget the smell of the Mess Hall on Fridays when I was in the Military. It was fish day for two reasons: 1) We need fish once a week; 2) Roman Catholics were required to eat fish on Fridays in those days. I don't eat enough fish to this day because of it. If food doesn't smell good, I don't want to eat it. Religion as well as culture and custom dictates diet among many people. There is nothing particularly wrong with that unless it becomes the law for everyone and that presents some problems.

Granted, much of what we eat in the Western world is not good for us because of the growing process. It is said that the soil has lost 25% of its nutrients because of the way we farm. We do not let the land rest, but farm it to the max, with the use of insecticides and pesticides, then process the food with chemicals and preservatives and who knows what else. Food can kill us or cure us. It is as so many other things that, if used properly can cure, but if used improperly can kill. Even our water systems have arsenic, chlorine, and other such things in them.

The food producers deceive us by putting "natural" labels on foods that have all sorts of added stuff to them to preserve them in shipment. God only knows what else we are eating and drinking that is not "healthy" for us.

All of our tastes differ and there is NOTHING wrong with that, but here is the point: Eat what you wish but express gratitude to God for it. A vegetarian who is such for "spiritual" reasons is considered a weaker brother, but that is not to say that one who does it for preference is. The body is God's temple, and it is prayer that fulfills the purpose of temple, not food.

The food industry will never be allowed to dictate my diet. They are never consistent! One year something is good for you, another year it is bad for you. We spend untold billions of dollars for "scientific" research that changes every few years. Common sense tells us that every person's body it different and responds differently to different kinds of foods. We must be grateful to God for having provided us with such a wonderful variety of food to eat. Some, no doubt, is better for us than others. The preparation is more of a problem than the produce.

Look at the text again: "...commanding to abstain from meats, which God hath created to be received with thanksgiving of them which believe and know the truth. 4 for every creature of God are good, and nothing to be refused, if it be received with thanksgiving: 5 for it are sanctified by the word of God and prayer."

I know care for rattlesnake, but some think it is delicious. I don't care for rodents, but some have eaten them to survive. Mama used to say, "You will eat it when you get hungry enough." She was referring to spinach, which I still do not eat cooked, but love it raw. I have a grandson who will not eat certain foods because of the texture. Weird huh? Yep, just as weird as the rest of us in different areas:)

So, don't let somebody that profits from what you eat tell you what to eat. And, for goodness sake, don't let some "spiritual" leader dictate your diet. That is seductive deception. Dieticians study food for health reasons, not for "religious" reasons. Their advice may be good, but it doesn't mean it is from God.

BLESSINGS!