Daniel Plans
Feb
4
2016
The Daniel Plan is a fairly successful diet to help people become healthier.
Physically.
But one’s physical body is only one aspect of oneself. What about mental health or emotional health or spiritual health?
Could we get Daniel Plans for those?
The Biblical Daniel plan, as opposed to the American Daniel Plan, was to eat only vegetables and drink only water, forgoing meat and wine (which would include today’s soft drinks, I assume).
To look at it another way, the Daniel meal plan is about eating what you need and what is good for you, not what you want and what pleases your taste buds.
If you take that concept and apply it to other areas, what would it look like?
Mental health – avoiding television? Limiting your playlist?
Emotional health – limiting your internet? being more selective in the books you choose?
Spiritual health – studying the Bible more? reading fewer blogs?
The only problem with the non-physical Daniel plan is that there is no good way to track progress. Physically, you can measure things: weight, blood pressure, cholesterol, etc. But the health aspects that are not physical are more subjective.
Go ahead and try a 10-day detox, not just of foods that are bad for you, but also of media that are bad for you. Chances are good that whatever pleases God will also be healthier for you – body, soul, mind, and spirit.
But Daniel said to the overseer whom the commander of the officials had appointed over Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah, “Please test your servants for ten days, and let us be given some vegetables to eat and water to drink. Then let our appearance be observed in your presence and the appearance of the youths who are eating the king’s choice food; and deal with your servants according to what you see.”
Daniel 1:11-13