7. [part]
The care of the body also includes the enjoyment of food and drink. God made humans beings so that they need food and drink to preserve themselves. In order to remind [the human being] to give the body what it needs, God made the human beings so that they become hungry and thirsty. And when they are hungry and thirsty, food and drink taste good to them. And so God satisfies every living thing on earth with delight. Since the good and wise Creator has so ordered it that a human being must use food and drink to continue, it behooves a child who loves the Savior to go along with His ordering. [This child] eats and drinks with thanksgiving to the Good Lord from Whom we have life and body as well as food and drink. If we had nothing but bread and water it would be enough to support us. Many thousand Israelites lived for forty years in the deserts and daily ate manna, that was their bread, and drank water with it. But God has given human beings many gifts that they can use for food and their preparation is also very varied. One person prefers to eat this, the other prefers to eat that and no one thinks the worse of them for it. But I want to counsel you, dear children, not to look down on foods with which others are content. If from your youth on you become accustomed to enjoy with thanks every food that is nourishing, even if it doesn’t taste as good to you as others, you will find in the future that that is good advice. Children usually like to eat sweets and baked goods and people like to give these to them and are accustomed to call this something good. But according to experience it is not so healthy for the children as regular foods and children do well when they take very little of sweet things and baked goods. In addition it is very good for children when they eat and drink in moderation and in an orderly fashion. Often they don’t know themselves when they have had enough. Then one is accustomed to say to them, “You’ve probably had enough now. You must stop when it tastes the best,” and [...]
Something
of Bodily Care for Children
Translated by Pastor Roy Ledbetter
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