You Want to be Vegetarian? - Ruminating in the Word of God

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, and
majestic in his radiant splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of
him today and what came to my heart and mind in Genesis 9:1-3,

"Then God blessed Noah and his sons, saying to them, 'Be fruitful and
increase in number and fill the earth. The fear and dread of you will
fall on all the beasts of the earth, and on all the birds in the sky,
on every creature that moves along the ground, and on all the fish in
the sea; they are given into your hands. Everything that lives and
moves about will be food for you. Just as I gave you the green plants,
I now give you everything.'"

And, thus, the Weber grill was invented!

When Adam and Eve were created, the diet prescribed by the Creator was
a vegetarian one. Following their expulsion from the garden due to
their sin of partaking in something the Lord commanded them not to,
and following the judgment of God by killing off all mankind
generations later, save Noah and his family, the Lord now gave mankind
a carnivorous diet, "Just as I gave you the green plants, I now give
you everything."

Some people today prefer to stick with a vegetarian diet. For those
with health issues, this is certainly understandable. However, there
are those who have a notion that refraining from eating meat somehow
brings them closer to the divine, provides for a personal environment
where spiritual growth can flourish.

The Seventh Day Adventist Church is one such group. While the church
does not require vegetarianism within its ranks, it is certainly
promoted. The notion is that a vegetarian diet is more healthful, and
that since our bodies are given us from God, we have a responsibility
to care for them. I suspect their view is along the lines of: since
our bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, we should not defile them
with an unhealthy lifestyle. Coffee, tea and a number of things are
also on the "no-no" list, as well as other "unhealthful" things.

Jesus was not a vegetarian and he put a hole right through the notion
that what we put in our mouths can improve us spiritually or can
defile us before God. He taught, "'Are you so dull?' he [Jesus] asked.
'Don't you see that nothing that enters a person from the outside can
defile them? For it doesn't go into their heart but into their
stomach, and then out of the body.' (In saying this, Jesus declared
all foods clean.) He went on: 'What comes out of a person is what
defiles them. For it is from within, out of a person's heart, that
evil thoughts come—sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed,
malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. All
these evils come from inside and defile a person.'" Mark 7:18-23.

I recall having a discussion with a Seventh Day Adventist elder on
this issue years ago. He strongly claimed that vegetarianism was
important for spiritual growth. He even said it would be a sin for him
to eat meat. Afterall, vegetarian was the diet God determined for Adam
and Eve when they communed with God in the pristine environment of the
garden.

I guess it was lost on him that vegetarianism was the very diet Adam
and Eve enjoyed when they chose to rebel against God and caused the
entire human race to fall, that it was the very diet for all mankind
when they corrupted themselves to the point that God destroyed them
all, save Noah and his family.

Vegetarianism, as a health issue is one thing. But this notion that
vegetarianism can have spiritual benefits is only one more arrow in
the quiver of the "do-gooder" as he seeks to enhance his relationship
with God through his own works. It is a fool's errand. God looks for
faith, not diet!

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share
what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to
hear from you!

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