Making Healthy Choices Glorifies God

 

 

    In the summer of 1994, a normally healthy and active Jordan Rubin suddenly began experiencing stomach cramps and a marked loss of energy. His weight dropped off rapidly as much as 20 pounds in one week and he developed oral thrush. A two-week hospital stay that fall uncovered a case of Crohn's colitis, an incurable intestinal disease. More than 15 additional conditions plagued him over the next year-and-a-half. He was slowly dying in the most painful way he could imagine.

    Resembling a Holocaust victim, Jordan began a campaign for a cure a search that led him to 70 health practitioners in several countries. He admits to trying treatments that "no rational person would consider." He read book after book and came away confused over which remedies might be helpful. Finally, in early 1996, his father located a nutritionist with an unusual perspectivehe claimed Jordan was sick because his diet wasn't based on the Bible.

    Curious, and willing to try something that would complement his faith, Jordan delved into Scripture to understand exactly what God's people were supposed to eat. He stuck to an all-natural cuisine plan incorporating meats God allowed the Israelites, along with fruit, grains, vegetables, and fermented foods. He began to see results and eventually weight gain. From his meager 114 pounds, he quickly shot back to a more typical 170, and his plethora of ailments dissipated including the Crohn's disease.

    In our fast-paced society with its emphasis on convenience, processed foods like bologna and potato chips reign supreme. Natural grains and meats free of growth hormones are relegated to the pricey specialty food shops. A frozen meal can be hot in just five microwave minutes, while the pot roasts of yester year require hours of preparation and cooking. The price we pay for this convenience and extra time away from the kitchen is increasingly poor health.

    Believers should certainly be vigilant about maintaining excellent spiritual health. When we do, we usually experience a connection between our Christian walk and our mental and emotional well-being. But many of us overlook the necessity of preserving our physical health as a testimony to our membership in God's family. In his first letter to the Corinthians, the apostle Paul highlights the importance of honoring God with our physical bodies: "Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? For you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body" (1 Corinthians 6:19-20, emphasis added).

    Much of the Christian life is counter intuitive, such as being kind to those who persecute us. (Matthew 5:44) In the same way, when we are accustomed to an unhealthy diet, changing our habits to be more God-honoring can be as challenging as turning the other cheek (Matthew 5:39) Because our earthly bodies are temporal and not eternal, it seems like a small matter that we might become unhealthy as a direct result of negligence.

Our selfish nature tells us that liberty is found in doing what we want, when we wanteven if that means eating a pint of ice cream after a bad day. But Jordan has a different perspective: "To me, freedom is health and wellness," he says, "and bondage is disease and sickness." Jordan believes the church has taken a New Age philosophy on health: while we embrace the call of God to be His bondservants spiritually, we want to maintain ownership of our physical bodies. According to Scripture, the truth is that God possess us entirelybody, soul, and spirit. (1 Corinthians 3:23)

    Our bodies are the vehicle through which we interact with our environment and those around usother Christians and non-believing friends, relatives, and co-workers. Keeping that vehicle fit and healthy demonstrates both our reverence for the dwelling place of the Holy Spirit and also our sincere desire to carry out God's plan in our lives. He intends for each of us to reach our full potential in our service to Him. Even if we successfully achieve a clear mind, clean heart, and balanced schedule, we can still sabotage our opportunity to be all God intends because of ill-health resulting from poor habits.

    Snacking on potato chips or swinging through a fast-food window after work are not sins. The issue here is not sinful behavior, but rather responsibility. We carry a sacred trust to honor the Lord in our bodies so that we can achieve the goals He has set for us. "'For I know the plans I have for you,' declares the Lord, 'plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future'" (Jeremiah 29:11niv). We belong to God in all areas of our lifephysical, spiritual, mental, and emotionaland reaching our full potential requires dedicating ourselves entirely to His glory.

Staff Writer

To learn more about Jordan Rubin, visit his website at www.jordanrubin.com.