Bible Reflections From Scripture Union Volume OneSample

To Eat or Not to Eat
Read Leviticus 11:1-47

You must distinguish between the unclean and the clean, between living creatures that may be eaten and those that may not be eaten. Leviticus 11:47

As we entered a coffee-shop in a small town in Perak, a waitress told my husband, “Our food has pork.” He smiled and replied, “It’s alright. We are Christians.” I certainly did not look Chinese to her.

We live in the New Testament era. What bearings does this chapter have for us? Acts 15:29 records the guidelines given by the Jerusalem Church Council to the non-Jewish believers. They were to abstain from food sacrificed to idols, from eating blood and from the meat of strangled animals. In other words, the division of clean and unclean animal ceased to be important.

Because of human greed, a great number of animal species are on the brink of extinction. As children of God we need to cooperate to save them by changing our lifestyle. We should delete shark’s fin soup from our menu, refrain from feasting on exotic animals and demand more humane treatment for the reared animals.

Many of us may come from non-Christian family backgrounds. The difficulty arises when we ‘balik kampung’ (return home) for festival celebrations. The food on the table may have been offered to idols. What do we do? Paul gives us directives to handle this situation in 1 Corinthians 10. He based his explanation on the law of love. If our eating stumbles our relatives and other young Christians, then we should refrain.

Matthew 15:16-17 gives Jesus’ stand on clean and unclean food. He is more concerned about the things that come out of the mouth rather than what goes in. He calls us to be holy, because He is holy (Leviticus 19:2).

How can we have 'a clean heart'?

Pray for our non-Christian relatives that they may see Christ through us.