The other day I was sitting in the lunchroom and somebody mentioned something about beets. My face must have scrunched up and I had to tell my friends why I don't eat beets. Once upon a time in high school I was on a fad diet that made me eat the same foods every day which included beets, cottage cheese, tuna, etc. While sharing this fond memory, one of my friends jumped in to tell me she remembered that diet and had done it too. We laughed about all of the silly rules we had to follow and have ever had to follow on a diet. Please open your Bible to read Deuteronomy 14 or just click here.
It is so interesting to me that so many of the rules and laws God sets into place in the Bible have to do with food. This is because food is what we take into our bodies. And our bodies are the dwelling place of our Living God. And so that dwelling place is made to be a sacred, holy place. As I Corinthians 6:19-20 says, "Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies." Are we honoring God by appreciating and respecting the body that He gave to each of us? Is it possible that we take this beautiful creation of God and tarnish it with our own personal graffiti? Sure, graffiti can still be beautiful but it does also take away from the original building creator's intentions and design.
He keeps talking about this special dwelling place God will choose where He will be and where each person was to go to offer their sacrifices and gifts and tithes. This will be the place that the Israelites will meet with God. The amazing thing is that Jesus made a way for us to become the dwelling place of God. His death and resurrection allowed the Holy Spirit to dwell within us because we were made clean and pure. Because we are forgiven God can be in our presence and can dwell within each of us. So if my body is the temple of the God then I need to be taking good care of it. The Levites were very special to the Lord. He keeps mentioning "do not neglect the Levites" in the last few chapters. The Levites were the priests who took care of the temples and the sacrifices. If Jesus made things new and we no longer go to a dwelling place to meet with God and we no longer need a priest that takes care of that dwelling place and the sacrifices, doesn't that become our job? Perhaps, we are now supposed to make sure that our bodies are taken care of because it is our responsibility and privilege. Perhaps, we should be offering our own bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God, just as I mentioned in a preivous blog. Maybe this all fits together. But if there were stipulations placed on the food they ate in the old testament, maybe we should also realize that what we put into our bodies is important to God just as it was with the Israleites. Are we eating clean? This is the basic Whole 30 diet. Clean eating. Kind of funny that I am reading these verses today because it makes me think about the Whole 30/Paleo plan. It's going back to a more natural way of eating. Why? Because we are starting to believe that all of the extra stuff really could be harmful to our bodies, to our temples. The articifial flavoring, the preservatives, the pesticides and all of those listed ingredients that we can't even pronounce. Maybe it is God's plan for us to follow a few guidelines because it is for our good. Remember, we are no longer under any of this law any longer because of Jesus. However, we still are called to learn from the law.
I would also like to mention something that kind of wowed me. God did make exceptions to His rules. He basically said that "If it is too far to go, trade the tithe in for silver and go to the place God will choose and buy whatever you like to enjoy there." God was also understanding that sometimes there were things that would get in the way of sticking to the law word for word. This does not give us permission to look for loopholes. It does, however, remind us what a personal God we serve. He understands that every situation is different and He even provided alternative plans for those type of situations. I am sticking to the Whole 30 rules, however I haven't gotten the best of their preferred shopping list. We have not figured out the choice meats yet but we're working on it. I actually placed an order today for what I am hoping ends up being a healthy chicken choice. But I am doing the best that I can for now. It's a process. I believe that God desires us to do the best that we can now. But let us never stay in one place. May we always strive to do and be more as we grow in the knowledge and love of Christ. My earnest prayer is that I do not look the same today as I will in a year, inside and out. Let us never stop seeking to be more like Christ.
Father, thank you for your law that teaching us so much. I think it's incredible that I can find ways to apply anything I read from Your Word, to my life today and every day. Thank you for providing us with so much insight and wisdom and encouragement. Thank you also for your rules. I know they can be hard to follow but I truly believe they are for our good. Help me to stick to this eating plan and to persevere on days when it gets tough. Let me honor You with my body which is Your temple. I am so thankful You dwell within me and I pray You'll help me to take better care of Your creation, inside and out. I love you, Lord. Amen.
Now Choose Life.
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