Thought for Today
Genesis 2:17 but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall die."
Leviticus 3:17 It shall be a perpetual statute throughout your generations, in all your settlements: you must not eat any fat or any blood.
Matthew 15:2 "Why do your disciples break the tradition of the elders? For they do not wash their hands before they eat."
Matthew 15:11 it is not what goes into the mouth that defiles a person, but it is what comes out of the mouth that defiles."
Enough about shutdowns and Washington, D.C. Today, I have a burning question to ask, “Do you follow the dietary laws?” As my Jewish friends might phrase it, “Do you keep kosher?” FWIW, we do not.
I thought about this last night and this morning because of a very frustrating and aggravating experience in the kitchen. Last night I made a recipe I had not made in a long time. I was making corn tortillas; and, I got the dough much too soft. The technical term would be that I had ‘a hot mess.’ Just to make things more interesting, I had used up all the masa harina in the pantry. By the time I got the dough to a point it could be handled, I had flour and dough all over the kitchen. The kitchen more resembled a modern art gallery than a kitchen. Thankfully, Greta came to the rescue and helped clean up the mess.
When I was a young boy in elementary, some of my Jewish friends did ‘keep kosher.’ Others were a bit more casual about it. Others totally ignored it. Some of my Catholic friends did not eat meat on Friday. Some did. Both my Jewish and Catholic friends were equally inconsistent concerning fasting. Those of us who were Protestant totally ignored both dietary laws and fasting. Thankfully, often kids can merely be kids.
Now that I am an adult, I do pay attention to dietary laws and fasting. I do fast when my doctor has ordered certain blood tests. The dietary laws I follow are primarily those prescribed by our PCP. She carefully monitors certain markers in those blood tests and lets me know when I need to rein-in my salt intake or some other aspect of my diet.
Bible scholars have widely varying opinions on the history and purpose of all those dietary laws in the Bible. Some believe that they merely reflect the accumulated lore gathered by observing the eating habits of those around them. Someone noticed that the folks whose diet was rich in pork were sick a lot; those folks whose diet was rich in aquatic life which dwelled on the river/lake/ocean floor died very young. Long before modern medicine discovered cholesterol and hepatitis, shamans observed lifespans. Other scholars look for more theological reasons for the dietary laws. What we know for certain is that our ancestors-in-the-faith did follow them . . . at least to some degree.
“Do you follow the dietary laws?” “Do you keep kosher?” Do you look to the Bible for your dietary rules? Or, do you follow whatever the current celebrity diet is most popular? Over recent decades we have witnessed the Adkins Diet, the paleo diet, the grapefruit diet and a plethora of others. One of my favorites is the diet where you eschew eating any white foods!
Do you take your nutritional advice from a celebrity? Maybe Oprah, or Taylor Swift? I must admit to more complex sourcing for my dietary beliefs. To some degree, I follow many of the dietary practices of my youth. My mom was a good cook. Other than an obsession with summer squash (6 meals per day, 7 days per week!), Mom did her best to provide nourishing and appetizing meals on a limited budget. Admittedly, this was before modern medicine realized the impact of accumulated cholesterol. We ate a lot of beef.
Or, maybe you try to follow the advice of the AMA, the AHA or what is left of the CDC. With the advent of the internet, there is a wealth of advice on diet online. It just takes a bit of discipline and determination.
As a Christian, I know that my salvation is not (thankfully) determined by my diet. I know those words of Jesus above, “it is not what goes into the mouth that defiles a person, but it is what comes out of the mouth that defiles." And, I know those words of Jesus’ apostle Paul, “Ephesians 2:8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God—” I just need to take care of God’s gift and use it wisely.
Stay safe, eat well and wisely, trust God,
Pastor Ray