Skip to main content

Clean To Eat or Unclean?

Recently, a well-known person spoke on television of his personal distain for pork – giving justification for his decision to not eat it by describing the unclean habits pigs are characterized by; “They will eat anything, they are scavengers; what they eat is digested in only forty minutes leaving many harmful toxins in their meat,” etc.  What he said is all true – check it out for yourself, just Google the facts. Do you eat pork chops? Ham, bacon, and sausage? A lot of people do. I must confess, I enjoy eating this other white meat. Is it good for you and me? Hmm…I can’t really say; I’m no medical expert or dietician.

In the Old Testament, many foods were considered to be unclean and the people were commanded to not eat them. The Pharisees of that time strictly upheld these laws. In the New Testament, Jesus was quizzed by some Pharisees (Mark 7:1-20) about why His disciples didn’t live according to the traditions of the elders instead of eating with “unclean hands.” He replied, “Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you hypocrites as it is written:

‘These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. They worship me in vain; their teachings are but rules taught by men.’”

Later, after leaving the crowd, His disciples asked Jesus about; "clean-unclean." Jesus said to them: “Don’t you see that nothing that enters a man from the outside can make him ‘unclean’?” He went on to say it is what comes out of a man that makes him unclean.

Okay, so do we eat pork or not? It should be a personal decision I guess. Certainly, all that is known about the ‘unclean’ habits of pigs is enough to turn a person away from this meat choice. Some (experts) say, as long as the meat is properly handled, stored, and cooked it is safe to eat. It’s your call! I’ll probably still have some bacon every once in a while, and I’ll probably have a second, or third helping of that delicious, spiral-cut ham at Thanksgiving. 

However, I’ll refrain from wishing you “bon-appetite!” You be the judge whether it's clean or unclean to eat.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Over the past few years I have been inspired by the Holy Spirit to write what He has given me; many times I was awakened in the middle of the night to write them down. I hope you will take look at these brief messages which can be found in the "sidebar" of this blog under the heading of "BLOG ARCHIVE." There may be something in these that personally speaks to you. I pray there is. Thanks for reading my blog and may God richly bless you.
Read more

By His Authority

God has given His authority. God’s plan for authority has been given to His people: authority in the church (1 Peter 5:1-2) which says, “shepherd the flock of God which is among you;” authority in the home (Colossians 3:18-25,) “Wives submit to your own husbands, as is fitting in the Lord, as is fitting in the Lord;” authority in your workplace (Ephesians 6:5-9) “Bondservants, be obedient to those who are your masters…; and authority in civil government (Romans    13:1-7) “Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God….” Authority as planned by God seems awkward and unfitting in today’s societies – not that His plan is inappropriate, certainly this is not true. It is more that people have deviated from God’s plan to what seems more suited to their personal lives for whatever reasons they justify. It is it any wonder we have dysfunctional families, government and na...
Post a Comment
Read more

God’s Family

He provides resources for the family “For You, Lord, are good, and ready to forgive, and abundant in mercy to all those whom call upon You” (Psalm 86:5). God’s plan for marriage and the family, in the Bible, is intended to be ideal, full of prosperity for every member. Would you say this describes your family? Maybe, maybe not, however, even if your family has missed His mark His Word deals with life realistically. Many of us experience some aspect of failure or serious disappointment with the way our family is living. Many families today are divided by divorce or living as single-parent family units. God alone can provide the needed resources and the loving care vital for the needs of these families who are dealing with life. If you are having trouble in your family turn to Jesus. He is your primary resource for forgiveness and your hope for renewal (Ephesians 1:7).   He forgives no matter if the failure is yours or it is one of those times when someone else fails yo...
Read more