The body was made perfectly—you will be learning to listen to it and trust God’s programmed signals.

A scripture from the book of Colossians is one of the first I found that applied to the problem. These few verses were the beginning of some foundational verses that grounded the Weigh Down Workshop, and that would be used to unravel the mystery. Let us look at Colossians 2:16 and 20–23:

Therefore do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink . . . Since you died with Christ to the basic principles of this world, why, as though you still belonged to it, do you submit to its rules: “Do not handle! Do not taste! Do not touch!”? These are all destined to perish with use, because they are based on human commands and teachings. Such regulations indeed have an appearance of wisdom, with their self-imposed worship, their false humility and their harsh treatment of the body, but they lack any value in restraining sensual indulgence.

The passage above is mainly a discussion of man-made rules versus God’s rules. What does God really want for mankind? When God had called His dear children out of Egypt and set them apart so they would be distinguished from other nations as pure, holy, rich, and blessed, He gave them separate food rules. These rules were not only to make them unique, but they were to symbolize that, to be in God’s presence, they were to be clean. The external cleanliness symbolized that the heart was to be clean.