CEBU, Philippines - It is easy to make suggestions on the best Christmas diet. It is quite simple. Among these are cut on salads like macaroni salad and fruit salad. Cut on meats, cut on sweets, cut on ice cream, cut on fruit cakes, cut on liquor. But then diet suggestions are matters of the heart, not matters of the stomach. Diets are more of the issues of the spirit and less of the flesh. This is not about spirit of the glass. This is about the spirit of salvation and eternal life.
The concern however is not so much whether or not you can cut on indulgent eating habits only during Christmas. It is also about regulating eating habits as a matter of lifestyle. There is always something contentious and contumacious about the Biblical diet mentioned in Leviticus 11 and Deuteronomy 14. These are contentious because many Christians and non-Christians argue that the Biblical diet is only applicable in ancient times. These are contumacious because we like to eat those things that have been programmed in our minds as appealing even if these are harmful to our physical well-being. For instance, Leviticus and Deuteronomy specifically prohibit the eating of swine flesh or pork meat but didn't quite impose this with a death penalty.
Yet in Isaiah 65:3-4, God is very specific when He said that eating swine flesh is abominable and provokes Him to anger. Then in Isaiah 66:17, the Lord Our God said that He will consume those who eat pork meat. If, as others argue that eating pork meat is only for those living in the Old Testament, why is it that doctors, nutritionists and other health practitioners in these present times, always prescribe cutting on and even doing away completely with pork meat for patients diagnosed with heart, cardiovascular, colon and kidney diseases? Why is it that when a patient is diagnosed with hypertension and diabetes miletus, these are always attributed to eating excessive pork. It is for certain that this Christmas, there will be swine genocide where pork meat are prepared into lechon or processed into ham. Will there also be patient genocide of people diagnosed with diabetes, cardiovascular diseases and hypertension? Until when must people provoke God to anger by eating food that are abominable by God's standards?
Communication, Not Tradition.
So back to the question, what is the best Christmas diet? I would still recommend fresh fruits, meaning less of the fruit salads. Likewise, I suggest fresh vegetables, meaning with moderate dips of salad dressing. If only for your well-being, I would suggest less of the macaroni salad because you would need heaps of mayonnaise to give this taste. The eggs and other ingredients in mayonnaise aren't exactly friendly cholesterol.
Most of all, go for a Spiritual Diet. Spiritual Diet is spending more time communicating with God. When I say communicate, it is more than reading verses of Scripture and memorizing these. It is more than going through the motion of tradition in attending Mass services. Communicating with God means turning off your cellphone and other gadgets of instant messaging, so you can have more quality time talking with God in prayer and hear what He has to say to you.
Quality time with God means turning off all worldly music including compromising Christian contemporary music so that you are not fed with the rhythm of Satan. And please turn off those music that turn traditional Christmas hymns into rock and jazz beat. Spare yourself the blasphemy and curse God can do to you for listening to abominable music. If you have to delight yourself with listening to music, go for something soothing to the spirit and where the lyrics of the song can bring you to a closer relationship with God.
Spiritual Diet is about feeding and nourishing the spirit and not the flesh. And therefore Spiritual Diet also means fasting on food that would displease or provoke God to anger. This entails a complete transformation of never having to eat food that are abominable by God's standards.
You see, learning to abide with God's dietary laws is about abiding by God's culture because your relationship with God has become so deep and cherished. When you have a relationship with God, God's culture is sublime and not the culture of man.
Spiritual Diet is about celebrating Salvation, preaching and spiritually nourished in the truth that the Lord Jesus Christ was born only to die for the sins of man so that we can live with Him in Heaven.
So what do we have for dinner?