Meditations on Healthy Living

Genesis 43:11 So their father Israel finally said to them, “If it can’t be avoided, then at least do this.  Load your donkeys with the best products of the land.  Take them to the man as gifts---balm, honey, spices, myrrh, pistachio, nuts and almonds.

[Living Bible translations]
 
Matthew 2:11:  Entering the house where the baby and Mary his mother were, they threw themselves down before HIM, worshiping.  Then they opened their presents and gave him gold, frankincense and myrrh. [Living Bible translation]
 
Luke 2:8, 16, 20:  That night some shepherds were in the fields outside the village, guarding their flocks of sheep.  Suddenly an angel appeared among them, and the landscape shone bright with the glory of the LORD…They ran to the village and found their way to Mary and Joseph.  And there was the baby…The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising GOD for all the things they had heard and seen…
[Living Bible and New International translations]
 
Summary:
 
Joseph’s Gifts 
 
Israel was the father of many sons (12 sons and 1 daughter).  But, Israel’s favorite sons were the sons of his favorite wife, Rachel.  Israel and Rachel had two sons: Joseph and Benjamin.  Benjamin was the youngest.  Rachel died giving birth to Benjamin.  Joseph was Israel’s and Rachel’s first born and Israel most favorite. Because Israel loved Joseph so much and loved him more than Joseph’s other shepherd brothers, Israel gave Joseph a “special gift” [Gen 37:3- Living Bible]----a fancy coat of many colors.  
 
But, Joseph also had another gift---a spiritual gift—a gift of interpreting dreams—a gift from GOD.  The brothers did not realize that Joseph’s spiritual gift would one day save the family, all the tribes of Israel and even “the known Egyptian world” because of a severe famine to come, the brothers failed “to see” their brother’s gift or appreciate GOD’s goodness.  Instead, the focused on “the other gift”—the physical coat that their father had made for Joseph.  This “other gift” became their focus of their hatred for Joseph.  They couldn’t day a kind word to Joseph (Genesis 37:4).  This other gift took a “life of its own”—representing all the resentment and hatred they had for their brother Joseph.  They just couldn’t see GOD’s “other [spiritual] gift.”  
 
As a result of the brother’s enmity toward Joseph, they sold him into slavery.  To cover up their wrong, they splatter Joseph’s special coat gift with blood, show the coat to their father and convinced their father that Joseph had has been killed.
 
Through the grace of GOD and GOD’s special spiritual gift of interpreting dreams, Joseph rises from the ranks of slave, to the head of a prison and eventually to minister of agriculture over all of Egypt.  The brothers and Joseph meet but again because they were focused on other things, the brothers failed to recognize their brother Joseph.  To appease Joseph the brothers, at the request of their father, bring Joseph some “physical gifts”---honey, spices and nuts.  But what Joseph and his brothers eventually come to realize they need is not physical gifts, but the spiritual gift of “brotherly love” and “right relationship.” 
 
After reconciling Joseph’s asked the family and the whole tribe to move to Egypt.  When they arrived, Joseph instructed his brothers that when Pharaoh asked them about their occupation they were to tell Pharaoh they were shepherds---“For shepherds are detestable to the Egyptians.” As lowly shepherds, Pharaoh would probably think the Israelites would pose little or no threat to the Egyptians.   
 
The Shepherd’s GIFT 
 
Shepherds have always been low on the social ladder—from the time of Joseph to the time of CHRIST.  Because of their occupation (low pay, late night watches, unclean clothes and smell) shepherds were generally filling the Temple (i.e., the Jewish church) when JESUS was born.  They were outsiders, lives outside the village, how little social interaction, were poor and isolated from their faith.  Yet when JESUS was born, the shepherds received a GOD’s royal angelic invitation, to see HIS GLORIOUS SON. Because of GOD’s spiritual gift to them, it was the shepherds who praised GOD, became witnesses for GOD and “told everyone” what had happened and how they had “seen” THE CHILD.  The lives of these shepherds were transformed forever, because of GOD’s SPIRITUAL GIFT to them and GOD SPIRITUAL GIFT to the world. 
 
NUTS
 
Only two kinds of nuts are mentioned in the Bible—almonds and pistachio nuts. In Genesis 43:11, we are told that these products were among the best products of the land. 
 
Today, nuts are still good for the heart.  According to MayoClinic.com:
 
Most studies on people who eat nuts as part of a heart-healthy diet have found that
nuts lower the LDL, low-density lipoprotein or “bad” cholesterol level in the blood.  High LDL is one of the primary causes of heart disease, so nuts’ ability to lower LDL cholesterol seems to be quite beneficial. 
 
Some of the other benefits of eating nuts include: 
  1. They reduce your risk of developing blood clots that can cause a fatal heart attack;
  2. They improve the health of the lining of your arteries;
  3. They have “unsaturated fats”---“good fats”---both monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats—and lower bad cholesterol levels;
  4. They are rich in omega-3 fatty acids.  Omega-3’s are a healthy form of fatty acids, preventing dangerous heart rhythms that can lead to heart attack;
  5. They have  L-arginine, which is a substance that improves the walls of your arteries and make them more flexible and less prone to clots that can block blood flow; 
  6. They contain fiber, which helps lower cholesterol and makes you feel full, thus causing you to eat less.  Fiber is also thought to play a role in preventing diabetes;
  7. They contain Vitamin E, which is thought to help prevent plaque in the arteries;
  8. They contain plant sterols, a substance that helps lower cholesterol.  
See, MayoClinic.com
 
Nuts contain a lot of fat (about 80% of a nut is fat), so although most of this fat is healthy fat, you should eat nuts in moderation—without salt—and best raw.  According to MayoClinic.com, you will end up canceling out the heart-healthy benefits of nuts if you cover them with chocolate, sugar or salts.  In other words, monitor and limit your Hersey bars, Turtles cups, or other covered nut candies. 
 
OUR GIFT :
 
Christmas is often been a confusing time of year.  So often people have no or little “goodwill toward mankind,”---least of all their fellow shoppers, fellow travelers, as they glare at one another stopped in congested traffic.  Often Christmas musicals, plays and pageants and cooking can lead to “frayed nerves” and exhaustion.   Children (and sometimes adults) can often be cranky from all the sweets and activity.  Often people feel “empty” after all the gift opening or the absence of gifts.  Physical gifts are often “not appreciated” or “not appreciated enough.”  All of these things can happen when we “lose focus” or fail to “see.”
 
The Bible says “every good and perfect gift is from above” (James 1:17). 
 
JESUS the CHRIST was GOD’s PERFECT GIFT to us.  We are the modern day “shepherds.” We were sinful (i.e. spiritually unclean), separated from GOD, and in spiritual isolation.  GOD gave HIS SON to us to reconcile us to HIM!  HE IS our SPIRITUAL GIFT from GOD!  It was and still is the GREATEST GIFT of ALL TIME. HE also wants us to be reconciled with each other.  
 
So, like the shepherds at the manger let’s carry the GOOD NEWS!   Let’s remember to reach out to other “shepherds,” including those “socially isolated” from our churches (e.g. the homeless, those in prisons, those caught up in sex trafficking, those in mental hospitals, nursing homes and other places of isolation).
 
Let’s eat nuts and “not go nuts” about the physical gifts, lose our focus or fail to see.  
 
Let’s praise GOD, be joyful and BE blessed---because we are!