Saturday 9 Jul 2022

July 9: Romans 14:1-9

Key Verse: Romans 14:3
The one who eats everything must not treat with contempt the one who does not, and the one who does not eat everything must not judge the one who does, for God has accepted them.

Devotion:
Each time I get to read verses like these I am reminded of the feud some have between vegetarians and carnivores! Why do so many people take offence at the little things in life like our diets, where we live, how we live or even our skin colour! When Jesus told us to love one another it was to put aside these things in our lives and learn to accept we are all different – but we can live together!

At the moment I am on a diet of mostly softer fruits. I struggled in the beginning because I wanted so much to have a pizza or a steak, but my health has dictated otherwise for the time being. I must say I am enjoying having so much fruit and things like smoothies and milkshakes made with real fruit!

God wants all of us to be able to live the lives which are best for us – but this does not mean we can immediately judge one another and say we should all be eating fruit and drinking smoothies. God has given this world for us and asked us to take proper care of it. This has meant taking care of animals and fish as well for our food, but those choices as to what we finally get to eat should be made by us and not forced on by others.

As long as we remember who has given us the food in the beginning and thank Him for the blessing of being able to enjoy the food we have, then we are doing what is right by God. If we don’t take care of our environment, then we will pay the price by not having the best food available to us. God will get us to listen when we go off the rails; but we really do need to listen to Him and obey His guidance in our lives!

Points to Ponder:
Do you frown at people who are vegan or carnivores?

Have you thanked God for allowing you to have the food you had today?