It's a daily fight. Resisting the urge to eat animal products that taste sooo good. Resisting foods that contain processed sugar, salt, and white flour. Resisting the politically correct notion that animal products are healthy and necessary. And even going against the grain of traditional Christian dietary customs. Not to mention the giants that are idols of our day, such as medical doctors, hospitals, drug companies, the FDA, the USDA, the food industry, and our own relatives. These and many other obstacles block the way to healthy living. It is a daily battle.

But we CAN win the battle IF we fight it first in our minds and hearts. Romans 12:1-2 tell us that we should be living sacrifices that are holy and clean of toxins and diseases. Verse two tell us that we should not conform to this world, but should be transformed by being informed on what is good and holy and perfect. The first diet given to mankind in the Garden of Eden (Gen. 1:29-30) was good, it was holy, and it was perfect. The Peaceable Kingdom visioned in Isaiah 11:6-9 tells us that God's ideal is for us not to eat the animals, nor for them to eat each other, just as it was in the beginning. And Revelation 21 and 22 gives us the vision of heaven where there will be no killing or eating of animal products. The tree of life will feed us 12 different fruits each month.

It is true that the Lord Jesus ate meat when he came to earth. Let me ask you this. If you were sent on a mission to rescue a person from a destructive lifestyle who was from a totally different culture than your own, would you stick to all your own tradition and habits to reach him? Surely not. You would condescend to his level and approach him in a way that would not alienate you from him. In a similar way, Jesus had to approach a nation that was deeply seated in tradition, lifestyle, and sin in a way that would allow Him to be heard. He did not condemn slavery. He did not condemn divorce in the case of fornication. He did not condemn meat eating. His mission was to seek and save the lost, which is a process of conviction, repentance, rebirth, sanctification, edification, and ultimately glorification.

Why did God change His mind about our diet? In the beginning (Genesis 1:29-30) we were to eat only plant foods, as were the animals. But when Noah walked off the Ark, God had to give them clean animals for Survival since there was no plant life left. He also gave us the animals for Sacrifice, to teach us that only a blood sacrifice could pay our sin debt. Even then He limited them to the "clean" animals that had a peaceful, vegetarian diet. And lastly God allowed us the animal products because it was our Sentence to die physically and the animal diet assured that end, especially if done in excess. See God's anger when the Israelites in the wilderness wanted animal foods as recorded in Numbers 11.

God gave us the animals for our benefit, not for our exploitation. It is not a sin to eat animal flesh, but I believe that we should fast from all animal products in these last days. Let us rededicate ourselves to holy living and to being strong and full of life in these last days before the Lord Jesus raptures us out of this sinful world to the marriage supper of the Lamb (Revelation 19:7-9).

For more on this subject, order Doug's book at www.alphaomegafood.com.