Our bodies need balance diet in order to function correctly and stay functional in the long run. In order to do that, we often need to consume foods that are not necessarily tasty but good for our body. When we were still kids, our mothers would more or less force us to eat things that we don’t like, simply because they are necessary for our growth. As we get older, our moms would nag less about food since we are responsible for our bodies now. We are entrusted with the ability to choose what we put into our stomach. But there are still times when our choice is restricted. We probably wouldn’t eat fried food when we have stomachache. We probably wouldn’t eat something difficult to chew when we have toothache. We probably wouldn’t eat oily food when we have flu. We are restricted to choose what we should eat in these examples, and technically those situations can be classified as hardships and trials.
Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation. (1Peter2:2)
Rather train yourself for godliness; for while bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come. (1Timothy 4:7-8)
Similarly, we ought to have a balance diet for our spiritual growth, as we are eating our daily bread from the Word. Some people love eating the “meat” in the New Testament while neglecting the importance of “vegetables” in the Old Testament. As a result, we have an imbalance growth. When we first become Christians, we have mentors and pastors helping us along the way, first feeding us spiritual milk and then slowly move onto what we need in order to grow healthily so that one day we can finally stand on our own feet.
Once we are ready to go on our own, we often let our diet compose of what we crave rather than what we need to stay healthy. We don’t realize the importance of our biblical diet, or one of the aspects of training in godliness, as Paul has written to Timothy, until hardships and trials strike. We seek helps from the opinions of doctors and knowledgeable friends, but the source and the solution to the problems lie at the fundamentals of healthy biblical diet. “It holds promise for the present life” as we go through trails in this life, that God has given us the peace, joy, and strength we need to overcome; “and also for the life to come” when we are reminded and reassured of God’s promises through the cross as we draw closer to Him, that our sins are forgiven, that our hope is secured in Christ, that we have been adopted, that we are part of His kingdom, that we are able to serve and glorify Him, that there will be no more pain or tears when He comes back to take us to the place He has prepared for us.
So next time when we come across the Leviticus broccoli, or the Chronicles eggplant, or the Ezekiel Mushroom, we should gladly eat them the same way as the Romans pork bellies. Maybe we should also learn how to cook it better and spice it up a bit with different seasonings from those who are experts in Biblical culinary. That would probably be helpful and useful for our Biblical dietary habit in the long run.
