Brian Cheung

4/11/2024

There is nothing wrong with loving life. We all want to live long and live healthily.  Mind I say, the healthy part may seem not that important when we are young.  As we get older, the concern toward that healthy part grows.   Not that we want to think about it, but life has a way of reminding us by either the health of our own or our loved ones.  In short, loving life involves not a short-term goal but a long-term view.

If that is so, how we go about it makes a big difference.  Say, considering our way not with a short-term but a long-term view.  The catchphrase that I hear a lot is sustainable.  The word is often associated with natural resources.  No, I am not thinking about the environment and social and economic equity, but I refer to our body or our being as a whole.  Is what we do sustainable or preserving our whole being as natural resources?

Materially, the alcohol, the drugs, and the food you take are they preserving or damaging your body?  Some may say to focus only on the beneficial side and ignore the negative impacts.  Some say that the science of a lot of these material things is still out and we can’t know it in certainty.  How do we know if what we take is “sustainable” or not?

I am glad you ask.  Since everything has a spiritual dimension, we turn this question into a spiritual one.  In other words, we find the answer not in science but in what the Bible says.  Proverbs 10:27 says, “The fear of the Lord prolongs life, But the years of the wicked will be shortened.” The Bible puts what we do in the fear of the Lord can prolong life.  In contrast, what we do in slight of God can shorten our lives.  So, when we ingest or inhale anything, if we love life, we should ask, “Is what put in our body a gesture of fearing God or pleasing to God?”  That will help answer the sustainable question.

熱愛生命並沒有什麼錯。 我們都希望活得長壽，活得健康。 請注意，當我們年輕時，健康那部分似乎不那麼重要。 隨著年齡的增長，我們對健康部位的關注也隨之增加。 並不是我們想考慮它，但生活會透過我們自己或我們所愛的人的健康來提醒我們。 簡言之，熱愛生活不是短期目標，而是長遠目標。

如果是這樣，我們的處理方式就會產生很大的差異。 比如說，我們不是以短期的眼光而是以長遠的眼光來考慮我們的道路（生活方式）。 我常聽到的一句話「可持續的」。 這個詞常常與自然資源連結在一起。 不，我不是考慮環境以及社會和經濟公平辯護，而是指我們的身體或我們的整體。 我們所做的事情是可持續的或是否將我們的整體作為自然資源保護起來？

從物質上來說，你攝取的酒精、藥物和食物是在保護你的身體還是損害你的身體？ 有人可能會只專注於有利的一面而忽略負面影響。 有人說，許多這些物質事物的科學結果仍然不明確，我們無法確定。 我們如何知道我們所採取的措施是否「可持續」？

我很高興你問。 既然一切事物都有精神層面，我們就把這個問題轉化為精神層面的問題。 換句話說，我們不是在科學中找到答案，而是在聖經中找到答案。 箴言 10:27 說：“敬畏耶和華，使人長壽；惡人的年日，必被縮短。” 聖經說我們為敬畏耶和華所做的事可以延長生命。 相反，我們輕視上帝的行為會縮短我們的生命。 所以當我們攝取或吸入任何東西時，如果我們熱愛生命，我們應該問：“放入我們體內的東西是敬畏神還是討神喜悅的表現？” 這將有助於回答「可持續」問題。

 

 

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