A Question of Diet and Salvation.
To mortal man the question of diet is truly an important one. Man is a physical being. He lives upon what he eats and drinks and breathes. It is therefore important that he eat and drink the right things, and breathe the right atmosphere, and eat and drink and breathe in the right way. The many schools of medicine, the thousands of instructors in physical culture, the multiplied sanitariums, the multitudes of health foods, the many quacks and patent nostrums, all attest to the importance of the physical human and his needs. Yet the most vital question is not the diet question.2 The most important question that humanity can ask is ages old, "What must I do to be saved?" For man is a lost creature, spiritually, mentally, physically, doomed to decay and death. He lives but a little time, then all powers begin to fail, and he dies. The answer to the question is equally important: "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved." "With the heart man believeth unto righteousness." True whole-hearted belief unites the soul with God, and makes it a partaker of the divine nature. The sin and the sinful, rebellious heart are surrendered, and the sinner is at peace with God. And the peace brings joy. "Being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ; . . . and rejoice in the hope of the glory of God." And therefore "the kingdom of God is not meat and drink, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit." But he who is thus partaker of redemption in Christ will "go on unto perfection;" he will "grow in grace and in the knowledge" of Jesus Christ. He will not remain a child, but grow to manhood in Christ Jesus. He will seek in all things to glorify his Master. Therefore, whether he eats or drinks or whatsoever he does, he will "do all to the glory of God." 1 Cor. 10:31. He will study to know what is the best food, what food will build up the strongest and most enduring physical frame consistent with clear mentality and keen moral perception. He will therefore regard the instruction which God has given His children, instruction based on their constitutional requirements and needs, and having direct bearing upon their service to Him and their eternal welfare. The Christian will note the distinction between clean and unclean beasts, based not on arbitrary choice, but upon the very nature of the creatures themselves. The law to the Israelitish nation (Leviticus 11) has passed away; but the nature of the beasts and the great underlying principles remain. Surely man can not glorify God and continue in transgression. The Christian will note that back of all this, when man was created, God gave him a diet of fruit and grains. Gen 1:29. After man sinned, there were included in his bill of fare, herbs, or vegetables, but no flesh foods. Gen. 3:18. He will also note that when God called His people out of Egypt and fed them in the wilderness on manna, He gave them no animal food; and those who were the most faithful in the God-given diet were remarkable for their physical strength, mental power, and longevity. Surely, it will glorify God if His children get back, or forward, to the vegetarian bill of fare, now that He has set His hand to gather His people the second time. Medical research and science have also demonstrated that the animals usually killed for food are, under growingly unnatural conditions, becoming more and more diseased; and are killed under circumstances which make it almost impossible for the consumer to know their condition. More and more all evidences, among which are the happy experiences of thousands, go to show that the best diet man can adopt is a non-flesh diet. But in doing this let him not do it as a matter of cold law, of something he must do or be lost. Such cold, legal requirement brings but poor appetite and offers no aid to digestion. But let him learn that it is the best, and then adopt it gladly as the best. Prepare it in the best way and then eat it joyfully as the best as unto the Lord. Let him drink, preferably not at meal times, a sufficient quantity of good, pure water, unadulterated with the poisons of caffeine or thein. Let him breathe, night and day, God's pure, fresh, life-filled air, deeply, joyfully. So will he find blessing and joy in serving God, and his food and drink will not be a matter of deprivation of one good thing, but the satisfaction that he has sustenance worthy of a king, and that fits him for the best service for the best Ruler of the universe. His diet will not then be a matter of cold law, nor will he count it the Gospel, but rather on the incidental fruits of the blessed Gospel.