A Balanced Diet 1 Tim. 4:3-6 CLICK TITLE FOR AUDIO
Where can you find information for a balanced diet? You can find a balanced diet in the Bible.
So, what comprises a balanced diet? A balanced diet consists of:
Herbs, Vegetables, Fruit and Nuts – Gen 1:29 – just noticing how broad the categories are in Gen 1, you can tell that vegetables are included in these groups – here are some of the herbs, fruits and nuts mentioned by name [Num 20:5, Num 11:5; Gen 43:11; SOS 2:5; Matt 23:23; Gen 25:34; Deut 23:24; Deut 8:8].
Flesh – Gen 9:3 – this is the flesh of every moving thing – so fish, fowl, beef, lamb, goat, venison, etc. [Jn 21:13; Ex 16:13; Gen 18:7; 2 Sam 12:4; Gen 27:9; Gen 27:7] – Lev 11 listed unclean meats for Jews but Acts 10:11-15 and 1 Tim 4:3-6 show us that the Old Testament prohibition against eating certain creatures was lifted in the New Testament.
Bread – Gen 18:6 – this could be made from wheat, corn, barley [Jn 6:9] and so forth ground into meal [as with a mortar and pestle or a millstone Prov 27:22; Is 47:2], kneaded and baked [Lev 2:5] or fried [Lev 2:7] – the idea being that the less it is processed the better – today the wheat in most bread is highly processed making it easier to bake, yet not as nutritious as whole grain bread [see 2 Sam 17:28] – as a general rule, the heavier the loaf the better the bread – enriched flour simply means that of 27 original nutrients removed from the flour in processing 4 of them have been added back – calling it enriched is a marketing ploy.
Dairy – Gen 18:8 – the debate over dairy is settled in the Bible – you can have milk, butter and cheese [2 Sam 17:29] – if you cannot tolerate cow’s milk you can try goat’s milk [Prov 27:27].
Eggs – Lk 11:12 – Job talks about the lack of taste in the white of an egg [Job 6:6] – add salt.
Honey – 1 Sam 14:25-27 – when Jonathan ate honey in the middle of the battle with the Philistines his eyes were enlightened – the honey was a great source of quick energy – complex carbohydrates have a lower glycemic index than highly refined carbs which just turn to sugar.
Bugs – Matt 3:4 – John the Baptist sustained himself on locusts and wild honey – in Lev 11:22 the Lord allowed the Jews to eat locusts, beetles and grasshoppers.
Now, here are several observations about these foods and a balanced diet. To properly manage your balanced diet you need:
Moderation – Phil 4:5 – you need to control your appetite [Prov 23:2] – obesity in the Bible is called gluttony and it is a sin [Prov 23:20-21] – honey is good, for instance, but too much honey is not good for you [Prov 25:16].
Wisdom – In Dan 1:5, Daniel was nourished with the king’s meat and wine while he was in school in Babylon. He requested that his meals be changed to pulse and water [Dan 1:12] because the king’s meat was defiling [Dan 1:8] and was evidently making him sluggish. Pulse is made from the edible seeds of various leguminous crops like peas and beans. Nevertheless, after he finished his rigorous education it’s obvious that he didn’t remain on this diet of pulse exclusively because he infers that he had been eating “flesh” before his three week abstinence in Dan 10:2-3. So, you need wisdom to find the combination and quantities of these foods that work for you.
Grace – Rom 14:2-3 – the combination of foods that provide a balanced diet for one man may not be the same combination of foods that work for another – in other words, once you find the right combination for you, there’s no need to preach to others that they need to follow your balanced diet – and remember that all these things are good if they are received with thanksgiving and are sanctified by the word of God and prayer.
Godliness – 1 Tim 4:7 – too many people look to the world and the authority of “professionals” and “experts” to determine what is right to eat – many of these diets border on profane and old wives’ fables – at once time the “experts” say eggs are bad for you and at another time they tell you to eat them – then they say butter is bad and margarine is good – and then they change their minds and recommend just the opposite – God knows more than the “experts.”
Practicality – an old doctor told me twenty years ago, “Shop the outside aisles of the grocery store” – think about it – the outside aisles are where you will find everything listed in the Bible for a balanced diet – all of the processed foods are on the inside aisles – stay away from them.
Conclusion: eat what God showed you to eat – if you need to lose some weight then just cut back on the intake – it’s as simple as that – keep a balanced diet of those things in the list that nourish you – stay away from those things that don’t.