As we just finished observing Passover week, it was so good to be able to eat some fresh-baked, fluffy bread. During Passover, only unleavened bread (crackers), called matzah, can be eaten. And there are a number of other dietary restrictions that the Jewish people also command all year long.
Today I read Leviticus 11 and 1 Corinthians 8. Both of these chapters talk about foods—what should or shouldn’t be eaten. Now, I do not want to get into rules and regulations of whether we should follow kosher laws. Paul said,
“But food does not commend us to God; for neither if we eat are we the better, nor if we do not eat are we the worse.” (1 Corinthians 8:8)
But I want to get to the crux of the matter…
“If anyone thinks that he knows anything, he knows nothing yet as he ought to know. But if anyone loves God, this one is known by Him…yet for us there is one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we for Him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, through whom are all things, and through whom we live.” (1 Corinthians 8:2-3,6)
It is easy to be persuaded by traditions of men regarding how we should live, what we should or shouldn’t eat, how we should dress, what we should or shouldn’t watch, etc. But the most important thing we should know is that we are known by God. We live for Him first.
“So let no one judge you in food or in drink, or regarding a festival or a new moon or sabbaths, which are a shadow of things to come, but the substance is of Christ.” (Colossians 2:16-17)
“For if we live, we live to the Lord; and if we die, we die to the Lord. Therefore, whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s…for the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. For he who serves Christ in these things is acceptable to God and approved by men.” (Romans 14:8, 17-18)
“In Him we live and move and have our being.” (Acts 17:28)
All the wisdom and knowledge in this world doesn’t amount to a hill of beans if we don’t know and love the Lord our God. Man cannot grasp the vast wisdom and understanding of God, and yet, He has chosen to reveal the mystery of His truth to our hearts. And when we worship Him in spirit and in truth, His truth sets our spirit free from all the rules and regulations that man can impose.
“There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death.” (Romans 8:1-2)
Live FOR God! Live TO God! And be sure of this one thing today—God KNOWS you and LOVES you; He will take care of you! May your spirit be set free as you are filled with His truth day by day.
–dmrf