Hey phil112. Were that scripture taken from? and plus, why do we need to ask God to bless our food, if its cleaned already? Thank him yes, but why ask God to bless if its cleansed already?
The vision of Peter is given in Acts 10
The vision had to do with eating WITH GENTILES, which is explained in the subsequent chapters. Jesus addressed the issues of actually eating, however, when asked why his disciples ate with unwashed hands (ritual hand washing had been added to their dietary laws)
[SUP]Matthew 10:16 [/SUP]And Jesus said, Are ye also yet without understanding?
[SUP]17 [/SUP]Do not ye yet understand, that whatsoever entereth in at the mouth goeth into the belly, and is cast out into the draught?
[SUP]18 [/SUP]But those things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart; and they defile the man.
[SUP]19 [/SUP]For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies:
[SUP]20 [/SUP]These are the things which defile a man: but to eat with unwashen hands defileth not a man.
It would go to show that if it's not what goes into your belly, it shouldn't matter if it's cow or pig, whether it was sacrificed to an idol, or whether it was cooked over dung; however if you are eating bacon with an attitude of rebellion, watch that you don't get an intestinal parasite. Not saying you'll lose your salvation, but you may have a killer tummy ache.
We do not need to ask God to bless our food (although there's no real harm in asking for all the blessings in the world on any and every thing you like, as long as it's not a graven image or something). This is a perversion by the RCC, who added a bunch of rules to the commandments, in spite of the Lord specifically stating not to do that.
They changed the Sabbath to Sunday, they changed the blessing from after meals to before, and other things. These things are very harmful as they negate the point, or spirit, of the commands. Scripture says not to forget God when sated with food, in Deuteronomy 6:10
[SUP]10 [/SUP]And it shall be, when the Lord thy God shall have brought thee into the land which he sware unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give thee great and goodly cities, which thou buildedst not,
[SUP]11 [/SUP]And houses full of all good things, which thou filledst not, and wells digged, which thou diggedst not, vineyards and olive trees, which thou plantedst not;
when thou shalt have eaten and be full;
[SUP]12 [/SUP]Then beware lest thou forget the Lord, which brought thee forth out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage.
God has already blessed the food by giving it to you. If he hadn't you would not have food at all. He knows it will nourish your bodies, that's why he gave it to you.
But lets read the beginning of the 15th chapter of Matthew, and see what Jesus said about man changing the rules around.
15 Then came to Jesus scribes and Pharisees, which were of Jerusalem, saying,
[SUP]2 [/SUP]Why do thy disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? for they wash not their hands when they eat bread.
[SUP]3 [/SUP]But he answered and said unto them, Why do ye also transgress the commandment of God by your tradition?
[SUP]4 [/SUP]For God commanded, saying, Honour thy father and mother: and, He that curseth father or mother, let him die the death.
[SUP]5 [/SUP]But ye say, Whosoever shall say to his father or his mother, It is a gift, by whatsoever thou mightest be profited by me;
[SUP]6 [/SUP]And honour not his father or his mother, he shall be free. Thus have ye made the commandment of God of none effect by your tradition.
[SUP]7 [/SUP]Ye hypocrites, well did Esaias prophesy of you, saying,
[SUP]8 [/SUP]This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me.
[SUP]9 [/SUP]But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.
I pray that God would touch the hearts of those who are struggling with the law, that they would see the spirit of the law commands rejoicing, and is not meant as a burden but as a blessing. It is man's twisting of the law that encumbers.