Moment of Meditation: Omnivores (Genesis 9:3)

Every moving thing that lives shall be food for you. And as I gave you the green plants, I give you everything. Genesis 9:3 I have to admit. This is one of my favorite verses in the Bible. In the beginning, God commanded Adam and Eve, and all their descendants, to eat only plants. While I like vegetables, I am enjoying a cheeseburger as I am writing this meditation. Under Moses, God sets Israel apart by prohibiting certain foods. Leviticus 11 has the breakdown of clean and unclean foods. God doesn’t go back on His word. He desires to set Israel apart from every other nation, even in the foods that they eat. This distinction was to make everyone else question, “What’s special about them?” Food need not separate us from one another. Vegan, vegetarian, carnivore. It doesn’t matter. Luther reminds us of what is most important regarding food as he explains the Fourth Petition of the Lord’s Prayer, “Give us this day our daily bread”: “God gives daily bread, even without our prayer, to all wicked people; but we pray in this petition that He would lead us to realize this and to receive our daily bread with thanksgiving.” Whatever we eat, we must remember that God has given it to us to bless us. Amen.