YOU ARE WHAT YOU EAT

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In Christ, Mark

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

“You are the children of the Lord your God. Do not cut yourselves or shave the front of your heads for the dead, for you are a people holy to the Lord your God. Out of all the peoples on the face of the earth, the Lord has chosen you to be his treasured possession.”

“Do not eat any detestable thing. These are the animals you may eat: the ox, the sheep, the goat, the deer, the gazelle, the roe deer, the wild goat, the ibex, the antelope, and the mountain sheep. You may eat any animal that has a split hoof divided in two and that chews the cud. However, of those that chew the cud or that have a split hoof completely divided you may not eat the camel, the rabbit, or the coney. Although they chew the cud, they do not have a split hoof; they are ceremonially unclean for you. The pig is also unclean; although it has a split hoof, it does not chew the cud. You are not to eat their meat or touch their carcasses.”

“Of all the creatures living in the water, you may eat any that has fins and scales. But anything that does not have fins and scales you may not eat; for you it is unclean.”

“You may eat any clean bird. But these you may not eat: the eagle, the vulture, the black vulture, the red kite, the black kite, any kind of falcon, any kind of raven, the horned owl, the screech owl, the gull, any kind of hawk, the little owl, the great owl, the white owl, the desert owl, the osprey, the cormorant, the stork, any kind of heron, the hoopoe, and the bat.”

“All flying insects that swarm are unclean to you; do not eat them. But any winged creature that is clean you may eat.”

“Do not eat anything you find already dead. You may give it to an alien living in any of your towns, and he may eat it, or you may sell it to a foreigner. But you are a people holy to the Lord your God.”

“Do not cook a young goat in its mother's milk.”

Deuteronomy 14:1-21

This ends our reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

As we move to Deuteronomy chapter 14, we find Moses reviewing guidelines for what foods God permitted the people of Israel to eat and as we see, food was divided into one of two categories: clean or unclean.

Obviously, anything in the clean category was allowable but any food labeled unclean was not to be eaten.  

As we look at this passage, there are two important things to remember:

First, these directives had already been given in much more detail back chapter 11 of the Book of Leviticus. Given this, Moses’ instructions weren’t new to the Israelites but rather just reminders.  

Secondly, this matter of clean and unclean foods was revised by Jesus during His ministry. Here’s what He had to say in the Gospel of Matthew in chapter 15, verses 17 through 20:

"Don't you see that whatever enters the mouth goes into the stomach and then out of the body? But the things that come out of the mouth come from the heart, and these make a man 'unclean.' For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander. These are what make a man 'unclean'; but eating with unwashed hands does not make him 'unclean.'"

Here we find Jesus setting things straight, making it clear that it wasn’t actual food that made a person unclean but rather the condition and state of one’s heart.

OK…so I’m sure you are wondering this:

Why in the world were these restrictions placed on food if Jesus was just going to write them off in the not too distant future?

I believe the answer to this question comes in the prior chapter for you may recall these words from Deuteronomy, chapter 13:

“The Lord your God is testing you to find out whether you love Him with all your heart and with all your soul. It is the Lord your God you must follow, and Him you must revere. Keep His commands and obey Him; serve Him and hold fast to Him.”

You’ll remember from yesterday’s message that “the test” spoken of in chapter 13 regarded God watching to see if the Israelites would give in to the temptations of those who would try and convince them to worship false gods. Now here, in chapter 14, we can see where “the test” expands to include whether or not God’s people would be obedient in avoiding the foods they were told not to consume.  

We should note here that the Lord wasn’t trying to starve His people to death. He had always provided food to sustain them and even after abstaining from the forbidden foods in the Law, there was plenty of food that was “clean” to enjoy.

The bottom line was that God didn’t tell the people of Israel not to eat at all. Rather, He just dictated what they could and couldn’t eat, expecting them to comply with His demands in complete obedience.

If the Israelites consumed food in accordance with God’s commands, then they would pass the test and become righteous and holy. Conversely, if they ate the things that God told them not to eat, then they would fail His assessment and be seen as wicked and evil within their sinful disobedience.

So what’s the life application point for us?

Today, the world sets forth many things that are available to us, some holy, acceptable, and even pleasing to God while other things are detestable and unacceptable in God’s sight.

Indeed, everything we see, everything we hear, everything we do, everything we think, everything we breathe, or everything we eat or drink, revolve around a myriad of choices. We can choose to ingest or engage in things that God will and Word or decide to go against His desires, choosing our own which is akin to picking the world and Satan over the Lord.

Like Israel, will become what we eat or drink…or breathe in, hear, or watch. We can allow ourselves to become holy or evil…righteous or wicked…the choice is up to us but as we make our considerations, we need to remember that we are continuously being put to the test and, in the end, it really does become our heart that determines whether we are clean or unclean, just as Jesus said.

So with all this, we should do some self reflection and consider where we stand before God. We need to be brutally honest with ourselves when it comes to grading how well we are living in obedience to what our Lord had demanded.

If He was to look into our hearts this very moment, would He see cleanliness or uncleanliness?

No one can answer that question except you and God, the One who is ready to help you become clean and then continue leading you in the right direction while producing the fruits of righteousness and holiness within. All you need to do is surrender yourself to Him, allowing Him and Him alone to be your guide. He will always make sure you consume the proper things in life, now and forevermore.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.