● You Eat According to Your Conscience
Do you eat with your eyes or with your conscience? Your eyes might say the food looks yummy. But your conscience may say DON’T EAT IT!
During the time of 1st century Christianity, when Gentiles were being accepted into the faith along with Jews who had accepted the gospel message, the Jews had become accustomed to their strict dietary laws and the Gentiles had their own “food ways”, a question came up about whether or not it was OK to eat certain foods. One must eat! But one does not want to commit a sin to eat. It was a deeply religious matter for the faithful.
The matter was settled and the Christians were given instructions on what to do when food was offered to them. In a nutshell, ask God’s blessing for the food you’re about to receive, eat it, and ask no questions for your conscience's sake.
Of course, it’s not saying that we should not question what goes into our bodies. That would be ridiculous. Take the scripture in its context.
The advice from the apostles can be quickly summed up as follows:
- All food comes from the one true God. It’s meant to be a blessing, to nourish and strengthen our bodies. Thank Him and eat it!
