Is It Worth a Plate of Meat?

Since the beginning of man on this earth, there has been some thing that brought about a difference in opinion. Cain felt his offering before God was good enough, and looked upon Abel’s offering with disdain. He was so upset when God rejected his offering, that he killed Abel – thinking that somehow that would solve the problem of his shame.

I got to thinking about this controversy regarding the covid vaccine It has caused a great divide between those who believe it is the answer and those who don’t. Families are being split; friends are parting company. What is the answer?

I believe there is always an answer in the word of God, so when I heard the following scripture I began to meditate on it:

Your personal convictions are a matter of faith between yourself and God, and you are happy if you have no qualms about what you allow yourself to eat. Yet if a man eats meat with an uneasy conscience about it, you may be sure he is wrong to do so. For his action does not spring from his faith, and when we act apart from our faith we sin. Romans 14:23 (PHILLIPS)

To get a good understanding of this, it is necessary to read the entire section, beginning with verse 13 which states, “Let us stop being critical of one another“..(Romans 14:13 (PHILLIPS) The entire section deals with a discussion regarding those who choose to be a vegetarian and those who don’t. It sounds so much like those who choose to take the vaccine and those who don’t. The conclusion that the Apostle Paul came to it in this section is that each person should be governed by their own conscience, yet whatever your decision, don’t offend those on the opposing opinion by trying to force them over to your side.

Isn’t that what we do? We become so convinced of our opinion that we want to convince any opposers of why they should join our ranks. Or, we flaunt our position before those who don’t share the same opinion. What we have in the above verse is God’s answer to the controversy – by trying to force someone into doing something that goes against their conscience, we are causing them to sin – for whatever we do that does not come from our own faith – is sin to us!

If only, we could take this scripture to the global marketplace and convince others to allow others to live as their conscience allows and not try to force others to believe as they do. The wars would cease, there would be peace instead of chaos. I pray that we, the people of faith, would begin to understand this and practice it. That may not affect the whole world, but it would sure affect the little world around us.

Maria