TITLE: What do we allow in? By Karla Carlson 01/25/10 |
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Daniel 1:1-20 is the story of Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego (NASB). In this story we see these four men taken into captivity and put into training and preparation so they could eventually serve the king directly. This meant that they were not only to be educated in reading and language but were given the choicest foods and wines for their meals. Daniel decided he would not defile himself by partaking in the food offered and sought permission to abstain from that diet selection. The Bible says that the Lord granted them compassion from the official and they were allowed to be tested for 10 days.
• What was their food selection?
They chose this selection of food because if you look back in the OT at the dietary laws put forth the Israelites were given specific guidelines to the foods they were allowed to eat. This mainly pertained to meat. They were only allowed to eat meat from a clean animal.
• A clean animal (Kosher meat) was an animal with a split hoof and chewed the cud. This included animals such as cattle, sheep and goats, and this excluded camels and pigs. The other thing that made an animal clean is that all the blood was completely drained from the animal before it was prepared to eat. They were instructed that they were not to eat or drink blood so it was important that their meats were prepared properly. The Babylonians ate many of the same meats that the Israelites did but they did not prepare it in a kosher manner so Daniel did not want to take the risk of defiling himself.
• When looking at the diet of the boys it truly contained more than just vegetables. It very likely contained not only veggies but also fruits, grains and nuts. The Israelites did drink wine but I am not sure here why they chose to abstain except out of a desire to be obedient to the leading of God.
What was it that truly set them apart and made them stand out?
If you look at this section of scripture it states in Daniel 1:9 that the Lord granted them compassion and favor. One of the main reasons they were successful in their choice was that it was out of obedience. It was their act of obedience that the Lord granted them blessing. Just doing something without the right motivation will only give you a fruitless effort. When you act in the obedience of the Lord then you will see the blessing of that act come.
Leviticus 17:14-15- “For as for the life of all flesh, its blood is identified with its life. Therefore I said to the sons of Israel, 'You are not to eat the blood of any flesh, for the life of all flesh is its blood; whoever eats it shall be cut off.' (NASU)
Deuteronomy 14:3-20- “You shall not eat any detestable thing. “These are the animals which you may eat: the ox, the sheep, the goat, the deer, the gazelle, the roebuck, the wild goat, the ibex, the antelope and the mountain sheep. "Any animal that divides the hoof and has the hoof split in two and chews the cud, among the animals, that you may eat. "Nevertheless, you are not to eat of these among those which chew the cud, or among those that divide the hoof in two: the camel and the rabbit and the shaphan, for though they chew the cud, they do not divide the hoof; they are unclean for you. 8 "The pig, because it divides the hoof but does not chew the cud, it is unclean for you. You shall not eat any of their flesh nor touch their carcasses. "These you may eat of all that are in water: anything that has fins and scales you may eat, but anything that does not have fins and scales you shall not eat; it is unclean for you. "You may eat any clean bird. "But these are the ones which you shall not eat: the eagle and the vulture and the buzzard, and the red kite, the falcon, and the kite in their kinds, and every raven in its kind, and the ostrich, the owl, the sea gull, and the hawk in their kinds, the little owl, the great owl, the white owl, the pelican, the carrion vulture, the cormorant, the stork, and the heron in their kinds, and the hoopoe and the bat. "And all the teeming life with wings are unclean to you; they shall not be eaten. "You may eat any clean bird".
Looking at our choices
As we look at this example above take a moment to look at some of your food choices.
• What are some of the good food choices you are making?
• What are some of the bad food choices you are making?
• What makes those choices bad?
When it comes to food and what we take in, we need to put some things into perspective. One of my favorite phrases is “everything in moderation.” I like this phrase because I love chocolate and I love Starbucks coffee. However, when it comes to making good choices it is not always about the food but about moderation.
You also have to look at what you are getting from the foods you are choosing to eat. The more high fat and calorie food you eat the harder you have to work to burn all that fat and calories. If you fill yourself with good choices like whole grain, fruits and veggies then you are arming your body to help you burn all that fat and calories. Sometimes our food choices come down to looking at the motivation behind the choices. It is easy to let our selfish human desires run our lives but if I did that I would live on chocolate and Starbucks.
We have look at our body being a temple for the Holy Spirit and what you eat and the choices you make affect that temple. How are you taking care of that temple? With foods that are going to clean fuel and care for it or are you filling it with your selfish desires? It is our choice what we choose allow in, but when we act to give glory to our Lord, then he will bless us. If you take care of your body and strive to make good choices, this brings glory to the temple (your body) and the Lord will bless those choices.
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