Artificial Additives

I've been noticing a trend lately both in the news and in some of the books I've had the opportunity to read and review and there is so much being written about the additives not only in our food but in the food sources as well. I guess what really hit home for me, was a Science Experiment my niece did for her Science Fair Project involving the things that are in our food we may not even understand. Her experiment involved taking a hamburger from McDonald's, In and Out and one she made from meat at home. She then had them sit on the counter for a month to see what the results were. Within a few days, the homemade burger was the first to mold and begin to breakdown. Next was the In and Out Burger, and after a month, the McDonald's hamburger had shown no difference in all since the first day of the experiment. No mold, no breaking down of the food ingredients. Just the same old burger.

So what does all this have to do with anything?

It shows that the products were are buying aren't necessarily the healthiest options for us, even though we are often led to believe otherwise. Even our wheat and grain products that we used to consume are now being genetically modified to produce more grain and faster yields. So shouldn't this concern us, since we are the ones buying it and consuming it? The answer should be a 100% yes, but to others, as long as it is deemed safe, it should be okay right? Do you know even members of our own government won't eat what they are forcing us to eat. What about the hormones and antibiotics being given to chicken, pork and beef? Isn't that having an effect on our bodies and the increase in the numbers of disease and cancer as well as increases in the rate of obesity? Isn't it much harder these days to lose the weight we are slowly putting on? Is it possible those same additives that they are adding to our food products are slowly fattening us up as well making for an increase in medial care and weight loss products?

Forgive my pun, but isn't this food for thought?

Along the same lines, as believers in Jesus Christ, we are instructed to keep our bodies healthy because they house the Spirit of God, or the Holy Spirit.

1 Corninthians 6:19 "Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore, honor God will your body."

For the believer, the advice is clear. Not only are we supposed to keep our bodies healthy but pure as well. There are additives in this world that are seeking to desrory us and defile our temple. We are warned that if we continue in the pursuit of these pleasures, we will have no place in the kingdom of God.

Just like the nutritional labels warn us what is in our foods we consume, so does the Bible have a list of things we should stay clear of. So what should we be on the look out for?

1 Corinthians 6:9-11:

"Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexual immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the Kingdom of God. 

Verse 13b ~ "The body is not meant for sexual immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body. 

Verse 16-17 ~ "Do you not know that he who unites himself with a prostitute is one with her in body? For it is said, 'The  two will become one flesh. But he who united himself with the Lord is one with him in spirit. Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a man commits are outside his body, but he who sins sexually sins against his own body." 

So as believers in Jesus, we need to make sure our lifestyle reflects the Spirit dwelling within us. We need to do whatever it takes to ensure we are walking on the narrow path instead of accepting what the world has to offer. In the long run, the benefits will definitely outweigh the risks.