God's Provision For Our Bodies

Daniel 1: 12, 14-15

"Please test us for ten days on a diet of vegetables and water," Daniel said. ... The attendant agreed with Daniel's suggestion and tested them for ten days. At the end of the ten days, Daniel and his three friends looked healthier and better nourished than the young men who had been eating the food assigned them by the king.

Here we have what appears to be a cleanse. No wonder they looked healthier, they had been able to remove all the toxins that may have been in their bodies!

Since our bodies are the Temple of the Holy Spirit, we have a responsibility toward God to take good care of it. 

We need to educate ourselves on how to do this, and there are numerous and various resources out there to help us.

One of those is a book and bible study curriculum called "The Daniel Plan" by Rick Warren and his doctor friends at the Saddleback Church, the original Purpose Driven Church, in California. It doesn't set out a diet of vegetables, but it does look at all the attitudes prevalent today about health and fitness, and works with our motivation. And it provides a whole host of resources online dealing with every area of good health, including grocery shopping and recipes. 

I went through this several years ago in my Small Group. It helped me straighten out my thinking and I have since educated myself on what foods would be the best for good nourishment. Now I try to avoid non-foods that are flavored with chemicals, highly processed foods, and foods that have been tampered with genetically. 

O my Father, Your ways are so good! You have told us what is good to eat, and what is not. Everything is permissible, but not everything is beneficial. Thank You for showing me what foods today are the most beneficial, and continue to help me to find and properly prepare the good, natural foods You have provided, and to avoid whatever would supplant my body's needs with what would not be the best for health and maintenance.

Grant me wisdom and discernment in this dietary realm, so I will be able to nourish my body, as well as my mind and my spirit, according to Your eternal principles.

Even so, come, Lord Jesus!