Liposuction 

Pastor Duck's Weekly Column 

Taiwan Church News 2657/8, February 2 & 9, 2003 

Translated by David Alexander 

All fat is the Lord's. Leviticus 3:16 

Recently one of the small groups from the church that A-tat's family attends met at his home. The pastor came to lead the group that night. 

A-tat is only 10 years old. When he's not in school or doing homework, he often watches TV. Because friends from the church were there, A-tat stayed in his room and read a book until the small group meeting ended and everyone was eating fruit. Then he came out and joined in the snacks. 

One of the group members had recently begun reading the Bible through, starting at Genesis. Whenever he found something that he didn't understand, he would phone the pastor for an explanation. Often the pastor had to say, "I don't know. Give me a day to look it up and I'll get back to you." 

This evening the man asked about Leviticus 3:16, where he read, "All fat is the Lord's." "Why," he asked, "would God want the fat?" 

The pastor suggested that it was God's way of keeping people healthy in the days before there was a lot of nutritional science. By demanding that the fat be burned, God kept the people from getting hard arteries. "Or maybe," he said, "this was a rule of human origin. They liked the fat, but thought it was the best part to give to God, who had given them so much. So, you can read the verse to show that God cared for the people, or that the people really loved God." 

A-tat listened carefully. Then he said, "Recently on the Discovery Channel I saw a program about Liposuction. Does that fat belong to God too"? 

The pastor said, "I don't know. Give me a day to look it up and I'll get back to you.” 

Prayer: Accept the best that we can give you, God. We love you, because you loved us first. AMEN