Dietary restrictions highlighted todays’ reading. I have always thought maybe a reason God told them certain animals were clean and others not clean was due to preservation ability. bacteria they might have and for their general health. Yet in the New Testament all of a sudden God told Peter that everything was clean for him to eat. Wow what a departure! The more I thought and prayed about why God would all of a sudden do an about face the thought came to me that maybe the people were making the laws their religion instead of the Creator. Israel had begun to be known not by who they worshiped but by what they would not do. Then I thought about the church today. We are guilty of the same thing at times. The bible tells us that people will know us by our love not by what we do or do not eat or drink. I think sometimes the church today is identified more with the Thou Shalt Nots than our love for God and others. What a great reminder to show the love of Christ often and to a greater degree than condemning people because they don’t do things the way I think they should be done. May all know we are Christians by our love!