Automatic Transcript Generated:
Speaker 3:
So Oni asks, Are we bound by the Levitical dietary laws?
Speaker 1:
Now, that is a great question. And, you know, whenever I think of that, I always think of, obviously, you go back, back to the book of Leviticus in chapter eleven, which goes through very clearly what you should and eat as far as what are clean and unclean meats when it comes to understanding what a clean, basically. And that’s why I have to say the law most is not good to just throw away and just be like, oh, we don’t have to even ever look at it ever again. No, I mean, God was smart in having Moses write it is because God’s people had lived in slavery for like 400 years. They had no idea about God anymore. They didn’t know what right or wrong was. They really needed clear expectations. They needed to know exactly what they should and shouldn’t do because they just were living like animals for a long time. And so these rules were given to them for purpose and to teach them something good. And when it came to the Levitical dietary laws, like it says in Leviticus eleven, thou shall not eat. When it comes to seafood, only things swimming with fins and scales.
Speaker 1:
When it comes to land, animals only eat animals that have a cloven hoof and who chew the cud. And they have to have both of those things. When it comes to flying birds, basically only eating domesticated birds, not birds of prey. So there’s just some very clear outlines as to what clean and unclean is. Now, when it comes to, do we still need to keep those? I always look back in the book of Genesis, chapter seven, because this is God saying this before, basically, before this law Moses was ever brought about and it says, I believe I’m looking here, verse two, Genesis, chapter seven, verse two, it says of every clean beast thou shalt take to thee by sevens, because remember in Noah’s Ark, God called him to bring them two by two, right? So we were supposed to be able to bring them or they were going to bring them in two by two. However, they were to be taken in by seven. And so obviously so they could have more animals to eat. And so this idea of clean meats is just an idea that God had known about because he made these animals.
Speaker 1:
He knew which ones would be healthier for us. And so I personally do think that it’s a better choice to obey this precept laid out in the Bible just for your health. Do I think people that have ever eaten pork are going to lose their Salvation? Not necessarily, no. But I think when it comes to your walk with God, like you’re saying, are we doing the best we can? Are we going to a higher level? And I always think of one, Corinthians I’m trying to remember off the top of my head. I look at chapter ten, verse 31, and where it says, basically, whatever you eat, whatever you drink, whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. And so what you need to do when it comes to your health and what you put in your mouth, it really just comes back. Are we glorifying God in our body? Are we doing the best that we can do? Because God is worthy of our praise? And it’s an act of worship to eat certain things and abstain from certain things. And you see this, like even in the book of Daniel, chapter one, when the King had all these meats and wine and Daniel said he wouldn’t defile himself with the King’s meat, and God honored him for that.
Speaker 2:
And I’m not saying again, you’re a bad person if you eat meat, but use wisdom. And God did give you this preset for a reason. And so I think it’s a personal choice you have to make, obviously. But I think God is looking out for your best interest, which is why he puts those rules in place in the first place. And if you want to just demonstrate trust in God, I would give it a try. Be like, Daniel, try it for ten days and see if you don’t notice a difference in your health and your wellbeing, as you abstain from things that God said, they’re not really a good idea for you, they’re not meant for food. There are certain things that we shouldn’t put in our bodies, and maybe it’s not laid out in the Bible, like tequila or drugs. God and say, Thou shalt not shoot up heroin, but he shouldn’t have to. I mean, you should know, like, hey, this has bad effects on us. So let’s use our wisdom and let’s put things in our body that glorify him. Jay or Wendy, do you have any thoughts on that?
Speaker 3:
I think that’s a great summary of it. I don’t think there’s anything more to add to that.
Speaker 2:
I guess just one thought, which is like, Wendy and I are part of the community of amazing coaches, like business coaches, health coaches, mindset coaches, amazing people. And you know what? Almost all of them will say that one of the most important things for success, for happiness, for all those things, for life abundant, abundantly, is taking care of yourself. And taking care of yourself does include eating right. And God is trying to give us clues and the Bible ideas of how he intended us to eat so that we could be happier, be healthier, be more productive. So many things melt down when we were just feeding the wrong things. I mean, the body is made out of certain minerals and components, and if you’re not supplying it with those, you’re going to have problems. If you’re eating food that’s full of bacteria and diseases, you’re going to have problems. And it’s just common sense. And God’s trying to just help us to be happy. He wants to be healthy, just like that parent, right. That wants to keep the child away from reaching and touching the hot stove and getting burned. God’s saying, try to stay away from these things because it’s going to hurt you.
Speaker 2:
He’s going to have consequences. He tells the children of Israel, if you follow my law and maybe you know the verse, Tina right, that there will be no disease amongst you in the camp. This was his vision for his people. You’re going to be the healthiest people on the planet and they’re going to stare and look at you and be amazed. And there’s people like that today. There’s populations that live longer than anybody else. And often one of the common themes for those people, these blue zones identified by the National Geographic people, is that they eat well, lots of fruits and vegetables, fresh stuff and little to no meat. That helps make such a big difference. So, yeah, God is not trying to hold us back. He’s not trying to deprive us. He’s trying to give us something better. That’s always the way God works.
Speaker 1:
Amen. Yeah. The verse you’re quoting is Deuteronomy 715, where God says he’ll take away all the sickness and put none of the evil diseases of Egypt, but Gothic, I’ll put them on those that hate you. So this bad diet, it’s not for you. This is for bad people. Let them eat whatever they want.
Speaker 3:
But you’re God’s people, you’re chosen priesthood.
Speaker 1:
You’re a Royal priesthood chosen nation. So we’re supposed to glorify God? I totally believe that. And I think there’s so much just wisdom in God’s word and it’s not there to punish us. It’s there to just help us. I think we just live in a society, too that’s just like very indulgent. We want to eat whatever we want to eat. We want to do whatever we want to do. And God’s calling us to have something better than that, it might not have initially be fun. Just like going to the gym is always what you really want to do, but after you’re done, you feel good. And I think that that’s kind of how God is. He’s all about the long term investment and being what’s your best good? I don’t know why I always think of even things in the book of Proverbs, like Proverbs six. It starts in verse six talking about go to the anti slugger. And why are you just going to be lazy all day? That’s not good for you. It’s not good for you to be a lazy person. And I think that that’s something we kind of value, sadly in our society.
Speaker 3:
Too, is just laziness. It’s kind of just nice to do nothing all the time.
Speaker 1:
And God, I do believe he calls us again to a higher standard.
Speaker 2:
Yeah. That’s interesting what you said there about the short term versus in a sense, long term thinking even someone who is not known for being a Christian and that’s George Lucas but you could talk about some of the philosophy behind Star Wars is you have the Sith these people just indulge themselves and he wants to portray that as like that’s a big problem. These people just indulge in themselves and it just leads to wickedness and destruction and George Lucas talks about the goal should be joy and he defines joy as being in the state of not having these quick ups and quick downs but having this steady consistency because you’re doing what’s right, you’re doing what’s sustainable and you’re going to be happier in the long term and more consistently not as high but you don’t have the big drops and I think that kind of sums up what God wants us to do too. He wants us to be steady, consistent, consistently happy and maybe even that is what the Bible means at times. What it means, joy just this consistent state of happiness.
Speaker 1:
The fruit of the spirit is love, joy and peace and I think there’s a great peace that we can only find in God and his word and his wisdom because really there’s no peace in this world. People have tried to look for it I only find true peace in God and following in what he says and sometimes it’s not exactly what I want to do but when I do it I just have peace and I just know that I’m right with him and there’s nothing better than that.
Speaker 2:
Exactly.
Speaker 1:
Yeah, you.
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