Choices

1 Corinthians 10:25-28 KJV

Whatsoever is sold in the shambles, that eat, asking no question for conscience sake:

For the earth is the Lord's, and the fulness thereof.

If any of them that believe not bid you to a feast, and ye be disposed to go; whatsoever is set before you, eat, asking no question for conscience sake.

But if any man say unto you, This is offered in sacrifice unto idols, eat not for his sake that shewed it, and for conscience sake: for the earth is the Lord's, and the fulness thereof:

This phrase, a quote from Psalms 24:1, is here used twice but with seemingly opposite reasons.

On the one hand it is used to justify eating meat without questioning its source.

All belongs to God and all of it is good and nothing to be refused if it is received with thanksgiving. A good steak is a blessing and we need not question its origins for it was given us of God.

On the other hand it is used to discourage activities that seem to endorse idolatry.

If, as we sit to eat, the host informs us that this meat was offered to idols (and the implication is that those partaking would be eating in celebration and recognition of that idol) then we ought not to eat for the sake of the man offering it. Indeed the earth is the Lord's. It does not belong to any other god and no god but the living God is to be worshipped.

The key is that all things belong to God

• The food we eat
• The air we breathe
• The life we possess

That  must be the pre-eminent truth of all decisions we make.