Sabbath, April 23, 2005
Romans 14:19-23
So then let us pursue what makes for peace and for mutual upbuilding.
Do not, for the sake of food, destroy the work of God. Everything is indeed clean, but it is wrong for anyone to make another stumble by what he eats. It is good not to eat meat or drink wine or do anything that causes your brother to stumble. The faith that you have, keep between yourself and God. Blessed is the one who has no reason to pass judgment on himself for what he approves. But whoever has doubts is condemned if he eats, because the eating is not from faith. For whatever does not proceed from faith is sin. (ESV)
by Leanne Lippincott
In these verses, Paul continued to admonish his brethren to be sensitive to those who ate differently. Rather than finding fault, they needed to encourage them in their faith. Arguing over what to eat wasn’t worth destroying God’s work among the Jewish believers.
Man needs food to survive and, when eaten in moderation, it’s “good.” But sometimes, if we don’t stick to certain dietary restrictions, food can be bad—like when diabetics devour cotton candy and chocolate bars, or people with high cholesterol pile mountains of butter onto two-inch thick steaks. In Paul’s time, food could “turn bad” if it was used to stymie other Christians.
Copyright Information
Daily Bible Meditations are taken from The Helping Hand,a Sabbath School student quarterly for youth and adults. Copyright © 2008, Seventh Day Baptist Board of Christian Education, Inc.
Scripture quotations marked "ESV" are taken from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. Copyright ©2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Text provided by the Crossway Bibles Web Service .
