How do I bring glory to God with what I eat? What does God want me to eat?
The second answer to these questions focuses on the eating plans that eliminate a food group or vilifies Oreo’s (my symbol representing desserts.) I gotta believe anything that’s good comes from God, as James states:
“Every good and perfect gift comes from above,” (James 1:17 .)
And Oreo’s are good. But any good thing can be used inappropriately, leading people away from God and into sinful behavior. I’ve got another post examining at what point eating becomes sinful, but it will have to wait for another day.
When describing the Promised Land, Deuteronomy 8:7-9 states,
“For the Lord your God is bringing you into a good land… a land with wheat and barley, vines and fig trees, pomegranates, olive oil and honey; a land where bread will not be scarce and you will lack nothing.”
Now, I am not a biblical expert, but oil, honey, bread kind of nods to fats, sugars, carbs. Yes? In the limited palette of biblical times, these had to be the treats, right? And the Promised Land was the place of freedom - out of slavery, into freedom and blessing.
Some of the diet plans out there seem to push a forbidden, bad, negative reputation of certain these foods, the salt/fat/sugar foods, adding I think to the guilt, shame, and discouragement people (myself included) feel after enjoying them.
I am not talking about enjoying them to excess even, just having one. Just thinking about enjoying that rich, multi-layered chocolate dessert posted on my friend’s Pinterest board this AM causes a red warning flag, and a “ohh… that’s so wrong” response within me.
I remember a time I was unaware of how this “bad food” belief had permeated a certain women’s group I started attending. I brought cookies to share. The leader passed them around. The plate got all the way to me, about half way around the circle, without anyone taking one. I took a cookie, like “they aren’t poisoned people!” and it went all the way back to the leader, still minus only one. Seriously, did I feel like the fat girl in the room, enjoying the cookie I brought all by myself.
Listen to what Paul writes in Colossians regarding rules imposed by human wisdom,
“Since you died with Christ to the basic principles of this world, why, as though you still belonged to it, do you submit to its rules? ‘Do not handle! Do not taste! Do not touch!’ These are all destined to perish with use, because they are based on human commands and teachings. Such regulations indeed have an appearance of wisdom, with their self-imposed worship, their false humility and their harsh treatment of the body, but they lack any value in restraining sensual indulgence.” (Colossians 2:20-23)
The world has promoted “healthy eating” and “exercise” to such a high virtue; all I saw growing up is skinny = beautiful and beautiful = successful and attractive, and I wasn’t skinny. Ergo, I was not beautiful, attractive, or successful. What are the opposites of those words: ugly, repulsive, failure. Thank you world. Love you too.
(Side note, that same world tells me, oh, you feel sad? Here… have an Oreo. You’ll feel better… aha. A preview to how eating can turn into sin…)
But the rules of this world, according to Colossians, lead to false humility, harsh treatment of the body, and lack any value on actually conquering the flesh.
There has to be a better way than the world’s rule book.
Back to the original train of though, when I went to the Bible to determine what God wants me to eat, cutting any certain food forever was not where I was feeling led. Sure, He told Adam and Eve to not eat that one fruit. And He had all kinds of do’s and don’t’s outlined in Leviticus.
But then the New Testament came along, and Paul writes,
“‘Everything is permissible’ – but not everything is beneficial,” (1 Corinthians 10:23 ) and also “You, my brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature.” (Galatians 5:13)
(Now, this no sugar fast for Nutrition Month is just a fast. Not because I feel more righteous if I abstain from added sugar. FYI, still doing well, kind of looked at the cupboard this AM looking for a little something~something… but had a banana and am alright. For now.)
New Testament believers can eat pork without guilt. So too, Oreo’s and that luscious chocolate dessert from Pinterest.
But then the book of Daniel has an interesting passage that can’t be ignored when looking to the Bible for answers on how to eat to glorify God.
In Daniel chapter 1, King Nebuchadnezzar brought in some Israelites, “young men without any physical defect,” and “assigned them a daily amount of food and wine from the king’s table.” Daniel was one of them, “but Daniel resolved not to defile himself with the royal food and wine.” He had to ask permission to decline the offer of the king’s food, and the chief official replied, “Why should (the king) see you looking worse than the other young men your age? The king would then have my head because of you.” Daniel replies, “’Please test your servants for ten days: Give us nothing but vegetables to eat and water to drink. Then compare our appearance with that of the young men who eat the royal food, and treat your servants in accordance with what you see.’ So (the official) agreed to this and tested them for ten days. At the end of the ten days they looked healthier and better nourished than any of the young men who ate the royal food. So the guard took away their choice food and the wine they were to drink and gave them vegetables instead.” (Daniel 1:3-16)
Is food rich in fat, salt, and/or sugar innately bad or evil? No.
Is it wise to make them a staple in your eating habits? No. According to Daniel, veggies are the way to go. Fat/salt/sugar is permissible, but not beneficial.
Going back to the Promised Land passage, “vines (grapes I assume) and fig trees, and pomegranates” are listed before the oil and honey.
Yay for fruit! Woo-hoo for veggies!
And Hallelujah for Oreo’s to be consumed and enjoyed, guilt free – wisely, with a heart that eats to glorify Him.
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