Here's a bible verse to start this study off on the right foot, so that no one can say I'm pulling this out of my hat....
Paul had a lot to say about how Christians should live. And this verse combined with many others has always shown be that this gift of life, this body, this existence, is God's. He gave it, He can take away.
And as good stewards of His gifts, it's our duty as believers to cherish these gifts and do everything we can to be healthy.
Yes, this is the doctrine of the health message that my church is famous for. In fact, for over a hundred years, my church has been talking about a healthy lifestyle, eating right, getting exercise and so much more to honor God and....His temples.
Full disclaimer....I've been an awful steward of the body God gave me. I'm currently overweight, diabetic, take more medications than I would like to admit and am not that active.
And sure, I have my moments when I start taking my health seriously but then it fades...
The journey of sanctification :)
You see, God wants us to be healthy. And I truly believe it's never too late. There are some biblical principles that I (try) to follow when it comes ot my health that might seem a bit controversial, but alas...I'll always take my health advice from the Creator of....All life.
I'm pretty much a vegetarian...Most of the time.
But wait didn't the bible say we can eat all foods again? Actually it never did. So for about 15 years now, I've never ate any unclean food. It won' t touch my lips. When God calls something an abomination , I don't think He changes His mind.
But here's a few points to consider....
First, if you go to the book of Genesis, you'll see that God intended us, in Eden to eat a plant based diet:
What's important to note is that this is before the fall of man. So this was the ideal diet, as God planned for us. And yes, God introduced clean animals after the fall, but that was never His original plan.
But that's only for the Jews in Leviticus!!!! Is a popular counter argument to this...
Fun fact, God actually had the clean and unclean animals sorted out way back in the days of Noah....Check this out:
It's funny because we have been taught that the animals came in 2 by 2....That's not what the bible says. The UNCLEAN animals came 2 by 2 because....No one was going to eat them. And Noah and his family weren't Jewish.
But then there is the popular new testament statement from Paul:
This is what people love to throw at you when they claim that you can eat whatever you want and keep whatever 'sabbath day' you want....It's not biblical.
Simply read up and you can see what Paul is talking about....It's got to do with the Feast days. The shadows that point to Christ. But that's whole other topic....
Now before you run me out of the building here let me say this....
I started this study because of what God intends for us...He wants us to treat His temples (our bodies) well and wants us in good health. So this isn't som work based salvation here, I do not believe you go to heaven or hell because you eat a chicken wing.
It's a trust thing....God knows our bodies best, He created them. So I'll follow His guidelines for health.
Besides, let's think about this for a second:
Here's the apostle John's vision in Revelation....We are to never witness death again. Which means, Eden lost will be Eden restored. We weren't eating animals and killing them before sin entered the world, I don't see God allowing His creations to be killed when we all get to heaven either..