Fat Pacific Islanders – A Warning!

I once heard a friend of mine make this statement, "You
will never hear from God if you eat too much."

In the book of Proverbs 23:2, we read: "And put a knife to
thy throat, if thou be a man given to appetite."

I guess it would be true to say that the majority of folk
living in the western world today are tempted to over eat. An interesting
article from The Dominion newspaper, 28 November 2001, is headlined "NZ
obesity rates jump 50 per cent in a decade.

Obesity has increased by more than 50 per cent in the past
decade, with Pacific Islanders the fattest people in the world, an international
obesity taskforce says...

Pacific Islanders -– who make up 6 per cent of New Zealand's
population -– had the highest level of obesity in the world.

Obesity, which is defined as an unhealthy amount of fat,
was a global epidemic that till recently had gone mostly unrecognised. It
affected women more than men.

New Zealand hasn't been spared the obesity epidemic...
Never in the history of the human race have so many people been so fat..."
(emphasis added).

Having lived in the Pacific Islands and done missionary work
throughout Polynesia for many years, it was easy to see that this was a problem
with many of the folk there who enjoy fellowship to a very great degree, which
normally is based around the meal table. Some of these Christian folk are very
strongly against smoking cigarettes and drinking alcohol and yet in the field of
food, they stumble. This writer got caught up in the same problem and when he
left New Zealand, was a very thin man, but came back in a completely different
state.

It would appear that if we wish to keep our testimony strong
before the unconverted, this is one area that needs to be looked at and
controlled, that the outsider might understand that we are people who are under
the control of the Holy Spirit, and have respect for God's temple, which is
our body.

The interesting thing about the Bible is that it is a
two-edged sword and the man that writes this article, takes note also, as he
hopes readers will adjust their lifestyles accordingly.