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Musings on Faith #44 Keep the Temple Clean! | |
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Over the past couple of years, I have gradually, due to overeating and a lack of sufficient exercise, gained about twenty-five pounds of extra weight. Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s didn’t help any. It got me thinking about the huge problem we have in America today with obesity. And then I heard on the news that with the economic woes we’re now facing, the expectation is that the problem will grow worse, as people tend to eat more when the economy is bad. This is not just an appearance issue: it is a very serious health issue as well. The Scriptures speak bluntly about overeating, equating it with drunkenness! "Do not join those who drink too much wine or gorge themselves on meat, for drunkards and gluttons become poor, and drowsiness clothes them in rags. (Psalm 23:20-21, NIV)." In the Mosaic Law, gluttony could even be punished with stoning (see Deuteronomy 18-21)! It has, all through the centuries, been called one of the ‘Seven Deadly Sins’, and for good reason. Our national habit of overeating has, just for examples, caused a rise in heart trouble and, more critically, in diabetes, which is a tremendous threat to one’s health, quality of life and life-span. Medical science has proven the wisdom of the Scriptures! If God regards habitual overeating with drunkenness, and, by implication, with drug addiction, and if the health consequences are as severe as we now know them to be, we |
have, as Christians, a moral responsibility to deal, as individuals, with the problem - our problem. Over-indulging in food - gluttony - is a sin like unto drunkenness or drug addiction. Dare we ignore the one and defame the others? Much is said in the New Testament about this. Most famously, Paul, in Romans 12:1, says "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service (KJV)." As Christians, we are in-dwelled by the Holy Spirit, ‘God in us’. Our bodies, therefore, are seen by Paul as the Temple of God. If for no other reason, then, we should desire to make His dwelling place a fit and acceptable one by taking good care of our physical health. To do so, we should not over-indulge ourselves with food on a regular basis, allowing ourselves to become overweight and out of shape. Obesity is sin, and making excuses for obesity is failure to address that sin. I don’t like the word "diet", but moderate exercise (such as a brisk thirty minute walk three days a week) and eating healthy foods, especially fruits and vegetables - doing away with junk food - will, within a reasonable time, bring about not only weight loss but also gains in muscle tone and in our general physical and mental health. Moderation in all things is wise, and this applies to our eating habits. Let’s not sin against God through gluttony!
Yours in Christ, Tom Woodard |
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