Faith & food commercials

Frequently when I watch TV, I get hungry. Most advertisers keenly sense this and thus barrage my senses with food commercials that tempt me to drive to Denny's or IHOP in the middle of the night.

Nothing good has ever come from one of these commercials, until the other night. While watching a food commercial, I received a spiritual insight. A particular breakfast restaurant, possibly Denny's, posted a disclaimer at the bottom of the screen that warned the viewer "this product contains bacon."

How odd. I could understand the inclusion of a disclaimer if the food contained peanuts or some other known allergen, but bacon? Maybe I'm behind the times or living in a cave, but I have never heard of a bacon allergy. And even if there was such an allergy, the taste of bacon would still be worth the risk of hives or suffocation.

So why was this disclaimer included? In all seriousness, my best guess was that the restaurant didn't want to encourage conflict with Muslim patrons who aren't allowed to come in contact with food products that come from a pig.

Then I thought it would be a good idea for Wendy's to begin warning Hindu patrons that their burgers contained "beef" to avoid contact with the forbidden meat of their religion.

As I thought about the matter further, it reminded me once again of how glad I am to be a Christian who knows that it isn't what foods we do or don't eat that earn us the favor of God. Rather, it's all about trusting in Jesus Christ. It's only through faith in Him (not our diets) that our iniquity is washed away and we are made right with God.

This message was brought to you by Denny's new Breakfast Bowls. *(Warning, this blog contains bacon.)