In the modern era of human existence we know much more about health issues than the people of the year 2000 BC, or do we?

A person who has a dreaded skin disease must

wear torn clothes, leave his hair uncombed, cover the

lower part of his face, and call out, "Unclean, unclean!"

Leviticus 13 : 45

Out of many rituals we read in the bible concerning health issues it is clear that personal health was extremely important in ancient times. People with inflammation or an illness of any sort were treated with caution and put in isolation.

If you neglected your health and became ill you were spiritually unclean and had to go through a cleansing process with the priest to be well again. It was not an easy thing to be unhealthy.

Healthy people were and are still better off in al sorts of ways than unhealthy people. It is therefore, unwise to do anything that will compromise your health or well-being for instance with people who drink too much.

Drinking too much makes you loud and foolish

It's stupid to get drunk

                                                            Proverbs 20: 1

We should treat our health with caution and careful planning. To be healthy is spiritual. It is religion to look after your health. Part of serving God is to do things that will keep you fit and good looking all your life. To be good to yourself, to spoil yourself mean to eat healthily. Spoil yourself with nice fresh vegetables and salad, not with hamburgers and chips!

Saul, David and Absalom were some of the most beautiful people in the bible. Absalom especially was muscular and good looking. David, himself good looking, also loved beautiful women like Abigail and Bathsheba. The Bible made explicit mention of the daughter of Absalom who was an extremely beautiful girl as well. Hollywood can learn from the David clan about beautiful people! Why would the Bible mention their good looks, almost in Hollywood fashion? Beauty is the ultimate proof of health.

It is not about the way your face is made or how you look as a whole. You don't have to be a model or look like a film star or be skinny for that matter. If you are healthy you will look beautiful, you will be vibrant and energetic even if you are a little overweight as well! To be zestful and fit is spiritually enhancing and uplifting. You will feel happy and close to God!

Is it then too much to ask to live a healthy life?

Test us for ten days he said. Give us

vegetables to eat and water to drink.

Then compare us with the young men who are

eating the food of the

royal court, and base your decision on how we look.

                                                                        Daniel 1 : 12

Have you ever heard about a good diet, do you want to get rid of all that fat, and poor looks. Just eat vegetables and drink water for ten days! Good looking guys get better jobs than bad looking guys, and it has nothing to do with proportions. It is the way your body glows and shines if it gets less toxic garbage and more vitamins.

Just ten days, Daniel knew, only ten days would be enough to look different than the guys who eat fatty meat, cream, and other unhealthy products.

Of course the King's food had also a symbolic relationship with gods, why then did he not say just cook our food separately. Daniel didn't want to take chances, they had to get it right first time, vegetables and water would have done the trick!

Healthy living is part of our spiritual life, we need to get our eating habits right.

Vegetables and water are good enough to provide everything the body needs to grow and be healthy. It gives energy and makes you feel good. It enhances concentration and brain activity. To be honest, vegetables and water is a better source of nutrients than fatty and meaty foods.

It is thus very important for our self esteem to eat good food. To be good to yourself you shouldn't buy an ice cream from Steers or chicken from KFC. To be really nice to yourself you should buy broccoli and carrots from Spar! Or better, grow it yourself!

What is healthy eating then?

When David had gone a little beyond the top of the hill,

he was suddenly met by Ziba, the servant of Mephiboset,

who had with him a couple of donkeys loaded with 200

loaves of bread, a hundred bunches of raisins, a hundred

bunches of figs and a leather bag full of wine. …. The wine is

for them to drink when they get tired in the wilderness.

                                                                                    2 Samuel 16 : 1 and 2.

They brought bowls clay pots, and bedding, and also food for David and

his men: wheat, barley, meal, roasted grain, beans, peas, honey

cheese, and some milk.

                                                                                    2 Samuel 17 : 28 - 29.

In modern times we learn from books what good food really is. 5000 years ago people lived off the earth and they had only good food. It seems that fruit, dried fruit, grain, bread, beans, peas, honey, cheese and milk were their normal diet. We know today with all our research and wisdom that these, are the best sources of nutrients and can be labeled as good food. Added to what they were eating they were also active, walked wherever they had to go and ate directly from the soil. They were definitely healthier than we are today hence, they were beautiful people!

Hopefully we can learn from them and make our health a spiritual exercise as well! They probably knew better than us how to look after themselves, feel good and serve God, all-in-one!