Thursday, July 18, 2013

Unity in Diversity, Part 12 of 33

TEXT: "He who observes the day, observes it to the Lord; and he who does not observe the day, to the Lord he does not observe It. He who eats, eats to the Lord, for he gives God thanks; and he who does not eat, to the Lord he does not eat, and gives God thanks" (Romans 14:6).

IDEA: One way to judge the things that are “gray” is whether or not we can honestly thank God for them.

PURPOSE: Often what seems perfunctory and commonplace holds significance for the way we live.

Do you usually have a prayer of thanks before each meal?

We seldom think much about this practice. Some Christians may think it is unnecessary, while others may believe it is essential to the Christian life. (Weaker and Stronger Christians can disagree over even this matter.)

Paul gives us some insight in this area in Romans 14:6:

"He who observes the day, observes it to the Lord; and he who does not observe the day, to the Lord he does not observe It. He who eats, eats to the Lord, for he gives God thanks; and he who does not eat, to the Lord he does not eat, and gives God thanks."

The apostle is talking about areas of our lives to which the Bible doesn’t speak directly. Yet these are important areas of life, and we often feel strongly about them. Paul here singles out two issues for special mention. Both are emotional issues with religious significance.

Whether Christians must keep the Sabbath with all its regulations, or whether we are free to live every day of the week as a day devoted to the Lord.

Whether or not Christians could eat meat that was prohibited in Leviticus 11 or that might have been offered to idols in a pagan temple.

How can you decide whether or not something you are doing is really being done “to the Lord”? Paul’s answer is that it is when you can genuinely give God thanks for what you do.

Those who ate meat could honestly thank God for His provision. Those who ate only vegetables could honestly thank God for His provision. [He must mean vegetables.]

Thanks for what I don’t eat is absurd.

Thanks that I don’t eat would make me a Pharisee.

If you participate in a debatable behavior, you must be able to give God thanks for it, look at it as a gift from God placed there for your welfare and enjoyment, and use it in such a way that God is glorified.

If you abstain from the debatable behavior, then you must give God thanks for the legitimate behaviors He does allow you.

The failure to give thanks or the inability to give thanks offer good evidence that something is drastically wrong with your Practice, whatever that might be.

Implications of giving God thanks for what you do or do not do:

We ought to live with thanksgiving to God for what He gives us.

The giving of thanks is a good test of whether or not you engage in a practice with a good conscience.

The giving of thanks enables you to live with joy before God for the way you handle life—not with anger that you can’t partake of the thing that is forbidden. You are conscious that you are the Lord’s in all areas of your life.