Can God Really Help You?

When I was twenty years old I made the decision to become a vegetarian and remained one until last year when God suddenly dealt with me about it.

God gave us all foods to eat. In the Old Testament there were laws about eating certain unclean foods, meat with lifeblood still in it and food that had been sacrificed to idols. However, in the New Testament this changed. Peter was told that all foods were permissible.

      "I looked up and saw four-footed animals of the earth, wild beasts, reptiles and birds of the air. Then I heard a voice telling me, ‘Get up Peter. Kill and eat.’ I replied ‘Surely not Lord! Nothing impure or unclean has ever entered my mouth.’

       The voice spoke from heaven a second time, ‘Do not call anything impure that God has made clean.’ "Acts 11 6-9

God spoke to me about being a vegetarian and impressed upon me that by refusing to eat meat, I was actually refusing food that had been provided by him.

      “Everything that lives and moves will be food for you. Just as I gave you the green plants, I now give you everything.” Genesis 9:3

God has provided meat for food, but I thought I knew better. That was pride. One way this pride manifested itself was when I went out for a meal either to a restaurant or someone’s house. I obviously pointed out that I was a vegetarian and they had to accommodate me. We have previously discussed eating with other people. It should be about the company and not the food. However, I was making it about the food. I began to eat meat again.

All foods are permissible. Now, this does not mean that we have to eat everything; sometimes we may not like it, or maybe disagree with how it is produced. We may be allergic to certain foods or simply not enjoy it. We don’t have to eat whatever is in front of us for the sake of it. However, neither should we stand in pride and declare “Oh I don’t eat that”.

Diet programs often have good and bad foods. No food is good or bad. It is simply food. We can make it bad by eating too much of it, but this is usually because we feel restricted in some way and therefore want what we can’t have.

If we eat a balanced diet and listen to our bodies, then no food should be bad. It’s that thought “Oh I shouldn’t have that” which actually increases the desire. If you are free to choose, then you are free to refuse. Diet programs keep us in bondage and mess up our internal radar.

God has not declared any food bad and neither should we. From now on you are free to eat any food.