What do pigs have to do with the beach?

So you are going to have bear with me once again, as this post will have nothing to do with the beach. At least I don't think it will. Most assuredly I don't have any plans of speaking about sand, waves, sea breezes, sea foam, fish, crabs, dunes, sunsets or anything else beach related. No instead I plan to bore you all once again with more talk about the realizations I am having regarding the book of Leviticus. I hope you all will bear with these thoughts, and understand very quickly, that these are my thoughts, and mine alone. They may be off base at some point, however I don't think any of these thoughts will lead to a miss directed theological view, or legalism. Instead it is my hope that what you are about to read will give you one more insight into the Bible, that I believe was given to me by God.

We all know, or least most of us know, that the Jewish law forbid the Jews from eating pork. Now in today's society, pork is a common meat, eaten by most every people group, except the Jews. We also understand that Jews received this direction (to not eat pork) through the Law that was given to Moses, and passed down through the ages through the book of Leviticus. There are many other animals that were condemned as being unclean in Leviticus, to include fish with out scales, or any other form of sea life that was without scales, many types of birds (all of which were carnivorous), and animals that do not chew there cud. Probably more information then you wanted to know at the moment, however it is important to our discussion. Hold on to this information for just a moment, as I will come back to it shortly, and this should all begin to make since.

As I was studying several chapters in Leviticus today, I began to see a common statement. Moses would describe a ceremonial act of sacrifice, that of a ox, goat, lamb, or bird, and with each of these, he stated that the fat and the blood of the animal was to be offered only to God. The remaining portions of the animal, either the breast or the leg would be given to the priest for his own use. Now... This at first struck me as redundancy. Each animal sacrifice was to be given basically the same way, allowing the priest to have fresh meat from the sacrifice, but they were still about the same. Then the question hit me! Why would God have instructed Moses to give the remaining portions to the priest, and why could they not have the fat. (This is where you my personal opinion begins) Could it be that God was protecting His people? Could God have been showing through example, what was good for the human body to process, and what wasn't? I then began to take this thought a step further. God was allowing the priests to have the "ham" of certain animals. Now I want you to think about the meat you purchase from the store. What are the things you look for in a piece of red meat. Good color, fat marbling, little gristle, and a good price. Now most of the meat you would purchase is what would be considered "breast meat" of the animal, it comes from the muscle rich area of the animal. However a good roast, like a rump roast would come from the upper portion of the "ham" of the animal. This piece of meat should be with as little fat as possible when you purchase it. There may be a layer of fat on the outside, but the inside piece would have little to no fat. And this thought is what got me to thinking.

God condemned pork for the Jews. In today's culture we eat pork as often if not more often then other meats. And for the record, what makes pork such a tasty meat? The FAT!!! A good piece of bacon, pork ribs, and lets not forget a good ham, all have an abundance of fat in them. Of all the animals we eat on a regular basis, the legs "ham" of a pig has more fat content then any other animal. Could this be why God condemned pork. Was He trying to keep us healthy? Of course we could begin to speak of the same things with the other animals I mentioned earlier. A fish without scales speaks of fish like catfish, bottom feeders, that although they have a lot of muscle, are also full of fat. Carnivorous birds as well, are processing more fat in there systems then herbivores.

So why I am so hung up on this? I'm glad you asked! I have been struggling recently with a statement, that comes from many people that claim that Christians are hypocrites. Their statement is this..."how can you condemn my sin, when there are more fat, lazy, gluttonous Christians in the pew, and we know the Bible condemns gluttony as a sin?" Well, there you have it. How can I condemn one mans sin, when I am just as guilty of being a glutton. I will be the first to admit that I have a real problem with eating. If you know me very well, you know that I am not much a vegetable and fruit eater. I love meat, steak, pork chops, ribs, ham, chicken, turkey, roast, hamburgers, you name it, I like it. And to take it one step further, the greasier the better. I am 31 years old, and if I continue to eat the way I like to eat, I will have a very short life. On top of that I am guilty of gluttony toward food.

I have been reading a book recently that has challenged me to not only learn what I am reading, but to also put into action the lessons I have been learning. So with that being said, the Beach Bum is turning over a new leaf. I need each of you to help me with this, being that it is going to be very difficult for me. Here is the task... I am swearing off pork. This is the first step in a new direction, to make everything that I do a worship experience to God. We are to glorify him in all that we say... and do. Eating is something that we do. May my eating habits bring glory to the Lord.

I hope that I have not grossed anyone out, by the nature of this post. I am looking to each of you to hold me accountable in this. It will be very hard for me. Pork is everywhere, and I love it! However it is well worth this endeavor in order to have a body that is fit to be the "Temple of the Lord".

Until next time:

Clear skies, High Surf, and Sandy Feet.