True in the specifics Henry. The Lord told Israel that IF
they obeyed Him (and of course that means all in that He laid
out for them) they would be blessed in the field, body, etc.etc.
I think you will remember those passages. So true it was an
overall blessing for an overall obediance.
But I see PART of obeying God as obeying health laws
(including food) which I believe were from the beginning (not
just with Moses).
PERSON EXAMPLE
Now if I may indulge....with an example of myself. I am by
birth certificate 61 years old in September (I am writing this
in May 2003) I was fortunate to be born with I think pretty good
genes and cells, shall we say somewhat close to what I think God
would like to see in all babies. Well I was healthy through
age.... birth to my teens. But as I saw when age 13 I did not
have a good balanced diet, but good genes I guess, for being as
healthy as I was. Yet looking back, maybe by accident I did not
eat unclean foods.
When I was 13 or 14 I sent away for the Charles Atlas
"health and strength" course. A good portion of it, he really
ephasized good healthy diet...he was in may ways, ahead of his
time in the 50s.
I got to work right away putting into practrice his diet
laws. I still have his twelve lesson course, and it is what many
today preach for health...as natural as you can, lots of fruits
and vegetables, whole milk if you can get it (in England at that
time you could get whole milk, the cream at the top, I do not
drink the store milk today, but I drink Soya milk, made with
organic soy beans - very good for you), no white flour products,
good whole grains. This course started me on getting some books
from the Health Food store and reading more. I started to take
vitamins and bee pollen from that age on, and have never
stopped.
I never did like pork, or crab, and thos kinds of things, so
by accident as I look back I never ate unclean meat of animals,
or birds, or fish, or mushrooms, but not because I was following
God's Bible laws, for I knew them not at that time.
When I came into the WCG at age 19 and learned God's clean
and unclean food laws, I realized I had been basically following
them.
I have so continued....getting exercise, keeping a good
mental attitude, happy disposition (I play and teach music,
which helps keep me young as my students are mostly children and
teens. I sing and yodel lots also). I get 7 or 8 hours sleep a
night, eating good food, and still taking vitamins/mineral and
bee pollen (very great stuff if you are not allergic to pollen).
I have not been a great meat eater even of the clean
animals. If I can get it organic then I do eat more of it. But
I've never been one of those people that just has to have meat,
two, three, four, five or more times a week. I do like Salmon and
eat a fair amount of that fish.
I have kept my weight in the middle range where they say it
should be for my height (5' 8" now, you shrink some as you get
older :-) ).
Most people think I'm in my early of middle 40s, some just
not sure at all how much over 35 I am. Then the best compliment
I had about three months ago, was when I was in the Music Shop
where I'm one of the teachers, and a few customers came in to buy
things. The conversation led to me saying I had been teaching
music for 30 years. One of the men binked, looked at me and said,
"What you've been teaching for 30 years....you only look to be
30." The man who said this was himself about 30 years old, and
very serious.
So, yes born with good genes I would say, but I've really
looked after myself from about age 13 when I got that Charles
Atlas course. He taught in his course, "You are what you eat."
And modern science agrees, we must replenish our cells by what we
take into our bodies in our diet.
I'm not saying I will live to 120 like Moses....just saying
I really do feel BLESSED in my physical self for obeying God's
food laws. I was blessed to be able to start doing health laws
from a young age of 13 from the instructions of Charles Atlas.
I've only had the flue, you know that 4 or 5 day "stay in
bed" type, twice in my nearly 61 years, the last time was 1974,
after a terrible return by ocean liner(a roller coaster all the
way for 5 out of the 7 days) in December, and the flue bug was
all over that part of Canada where I docked (I've never had any
yearly "flue shots" either). First time was as a child before I
was a teenager. I do not catch colds very often at all, usually
it's been one every four or five years. So, yes okay, maybe good
genes but I think physically living the way I have from age 13
has much to do with it as well.
I can only remember missing about two working days from age
18 because I was too sick to work at my secular job.
Well you might say my contentions are based on
opinion....but I've lived it and it has worked...you know they
say the proof of the pie is in the eating.
Oh, for those wondering what I look like, go to
http://www.sabbathsingleconnection.com/
Then go to.... Men group 1 I'm..... M79
Then if anyone wants a real color photo I'd be happy to
send it, just to show you what eating (from age 13) what I
consider God's food laws, has and is still doing for me.
Keith
Henry wrote:
Nowhere in the Bible do I see any statement attributed to God
which gives good health as a justification for the laws on clean
and unclean foods......So your contentions are based on opinion -
albeit that they might make good sense, and be practical. But
it's a debate by people, based on what other people say.
