You Are What You Eat

So, I'm not a wierdo, or a legalist, but I have been casually studying fitness and nutrition for about five years now, and the more I learn, the more stunning becomes the parallel between the findings of modern science and the dietary laws set forth by God in Leviticus.

The more I study it, the more I come to believe we were never meant to completely chunk the diet God commanded for his chosen people. Obviously, our salvation does not depend on whether or not we eat pork. That was Paul's point in I Corinthians:

25 Eat anything sold in the meat market without raising questions of conscience,

26 for, "The earth is the Lord's, and everything in it."

27 If some unbeliever invites you to a meal and you want to go, eat whatever is put before you without raising questions of conscience....

...30 If I take part in the meal with thankfulness, why am I denounced because of something I thank God for?

31 So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.

32 Do not cause anyone to stumble, whether Jews, Greeks or the church of God—

33 even as I try to please everybody in every way. For I am not seeking my own good but the good of many, so that they may be saved.

He didn't want the jewish christians to be so legalistic about diet that they confused new believers into believing it was necessary for salvation. He made the same point in reference to circumcision, which is now generally practiced in our society for practical, widely-accepted, well-documented health reasons.

I am convinced that all God's laws were commanded for our benefit, so that we may experience abundance in all things, thereby glorifying Him. Although we don't have to follow the letter of the law in order to gain salvation (God's free gift), the closer we stick to his commands, the more freedom and abundance we will experience in this life.

The argument has been made that the dietary laws were only ritualistic in nature, and had no relationship with physical benefits. I disagree. God said the law was for the purpose of holiness. What is holiness, if not divine protection? Why separate if not for the purpose of keeping us safe? We certainly don't deserve such protection, but God tells us over and over again in His word that He wants to bless us, wants to give us abundance. I've racked my brain to find one commandment of God which, if followed, will not result in our good. So why do we embrace the ten commandments as such, but ignore the diet?

Is not physical purity stressed heavily in our churches in the form of abstaining from sexul immorality? How much more important is it, then, to maintain physical purity by following God's prescription for an activity in which I participate three-four times daily?

Just food for thought (no pun intended...well, OK, it was intended).

Again, I'm not trying to start a controversy or anything. It's just something I've been studying and praying about, so I thought I'd share. If you're interested, here's a compelling (though extremely long and at times hard to read) article about pork. If it doesn't scare the bacon out of you, nothing will :)

http://www.kyrieology.com/drupal/wwje/adverseinfluenceofpork

There are other interesting articles about it on the menu bar to the left. The one titled Pig and Pork Facts summed it all up quite well.