Issue 1221 – What you eat – August 14, 2023
An old country song played in my head as I looked through images today, looking for inspiration for this morning’s Gleanings. A white sports coat and a pink …. flamingo?
We saw this flamboyance of flamingos at the Greater Vancouver Zoo on a recent visit. Did you know that flamingos are not always pink? They are, in fact, dull gray to coloured white birds by nature.
At brittanica.com, it says,
“The bright pink colour of flamingos comes from beta-carotene, a red-orange pigment that’s found in high amounts within the algae, brine fly larvae, and brine shrimp that flamingos eat in their wetland environment. In the digestive system, enzymes break down carotenoids into pigments that are absorbed by fats in the liver and deposited, for flamingos, in the feathers and skin. To actually colour those external attributes, carotenoids must be ingested in very large amounts. Because the flamingo diet is nearly exclusively carotenoid-filled delicacies, the birds have no problem colouring themselves. “
Similarly, if people ate sufficiently large quantities of carrots, their skin would take on an orange tinge.
Now you know. To some degree, we are what we eat, at least if we use the flamingo as an example. If people ate sufficient quantities of carrots, their skin would take on an orange tinge.
That’s why we read passages in the Bible which tell us things like:
Do not be deceived: “Bad company ruins good morals, Wake up from your drunken stupor, as is right, and do not go on sinning. For some have no knowledge of God. I say this to your shame. 1 Corinthians 15:33
Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers. The wicked are not so, but are like chaff that the wind drives away. Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous; for the Lord knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish. Psalm 1
Make no friendship with a man given to anger, nor go with a wrathful man, lest you learn his ways and entangle yourself in a snare. Proverbs 22:24-25
Do not enter the path of the wicked, and do not walk in the way of the evil. Avoid it; do not go on it; turn away from it and pass on. Proverbs 4:14-15
We cannot totally avoid evil or simply foolish people in life. They are everywhere, including in the church. Even if we were to become hermits and isolate ourselves, we would still have our sinful nature to contend with.
We are called to evangelize a broken and sinful people, that includes people we need to be watchful of.
How do we balance the tension?
We nourish ourselves on the things of God. We read and study the Bible individually and corporately. We gather regularly for worship. We pray. We turn quickly from our sin in repentance.
We put into the spiritual disciplines. That isn’t new or earth-shattering advice. We all know it. We put on the armour of God. The trick is to move it from intellectual knowledge into heart-felt practice.
May the Lord walk closely with you and guard your path from snares.
Be Blessed
Hallelu Yah / Praise God
Kevin
Gleanings From The Word
Experience an extraordinary God in ordinary life.
Soli Deo Gloria (For the glory of God alone)
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All contents, “Gleanings From The Word” and “Experience an Extraordinary God in Ordinary Life,” are © 2001, 2023 KF “Kevin” Corbin Gleanings From The Word.
Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture is from the English Standard Version (ESV).
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