“They will say it is wrong to be married and wrong to eat certain foods. But God created those foods to be eaten with thanks by faithful people who know the truth. Since everything God created is good, we should not reject any of it but receive it with thanks. For we know it is made acceptable by the word of God and prayer.”
My family played a trivia game tonight called beat the parents. The idea is that parents have to answer questions about things that the kids know and love and vice-a-versa. My kids were so excited about the game that they couldn’t even sit still. By round number three they were leaning on the table with their legs on top of the backs of their chairs. By the end of round five my daughter was hoping up and down with excitement and my son was doing a little dance. No matter what the game, there is one phrase that always seems to come up at least once when we play games. When things are going well for the kids, they just shout out “New Rule!” and then make up a rule that will help them win. Oddly, they still expect us to go along with their new rules, even though we never do.
As Paul continues to warn about false teachers, he suggests that they are the sort of people who want to shout out “new rule!” God has created specific standards and expectations for humanity. The false teachers that Paul is describing want to add new standards, new expectations. They want to judge people based not on the standards that God has laid out, but on the new standards they made up themselves. They want people to earn their place with God by what they don’t do, by what they say “no” to.
Here’s your freedom for today: assume that God is saying “yes” until proven otherwise. There are far more things God says “yes” to than there are that he says “no” to. The world is full of opportunities and freedoms that God invites you to embrace. Receive the things of this life as gifts from God in two ways. First, receive them with an ever deepening knowledge of the giver himself through His Word and prayer. Second, receive them with gratitude. God is a good Father seeking to give you good gifts from a good world that He himself created. It is a good and godly thing to enjoy them.