Allergies

I see a lot of children with food allergies in my pediatric gastroenterology practice. Most of them turn out to be babies with cow milk allergy, and the usual culprits for the reactions are regular infant formulas made with cow milk, or cow milk protein from a nursing mother's diet that somehow ends up in her breastmilk.. These infants usually aren't very sick, but can have worrisome symptoms such as fussiness, excessive vomiting, poor weight gain, rash, asthma and bloody stools. Treatment is typically quite straightforward, as symptoms tend to subside within a few days after the offending milk is eliminated, either by changing to a “hypoallergenic” formula or having the mother completely eliminate dairy products from her diet while breastfeeding. Eventually, virtually all of these youngsters will develop a tolerance to the milk, and most will be able to drink regular milk later in childhood.

Unfortunately, not all food allergies are similarly benign, as certain foods are notorious for causing potentially life-threatening reactions. Children with serious peanut allergies have been known to develop lethal swelling of the breathing passages with exposure to even traces of peanut butter on a knife, and I have a colleague whose son had several trips to the emergency room due to walnut and shellfish allergies. One of my patients has severe allergies to most food categories, environmental allergens, latex and several medications, and has nearly lost her life repeatedly despite her and her parents' utmost diligence in protecting her against accidental exposure to known allergens. This girl takes her allergist's diagnosis of specific food allergies as warnings that are as serious and solemn as God's words to Adam and Eve against eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, that “when you eat of it you will certainly die.” (Genesis 2:17)

Most Christians tend to regard sin, i.e., transgressions against God's commands, rather casually. True, we realize that it is bad, we feel bad about it, and we sometimes suffer real consequences from our disobedience. However, because we also know that the penalty of our sins had been paid by Jesus on the cross, we forget the seriousness of sin too easily. We treat sin as minor reactions that manifest as a flare of eczema or runny nose, and fail to see it as a life-threatening event, for which we are without hope except for the atoning blood of Christ. My patient with the multiple severe allergies take daily medications and carry emergency drugs, including potentially life-saving injections, at all times. However, she realizes that the medications do not give her license to willfully violate her allergist's advice and eat something that is on the “forbidden” list. Her life might be spared by her medications and care at the emergency room and intensive care unit, but she still suffers real pain, and the fact of her survival from these attacks certainly does not diminish the seriousness of her disease. In the same way, we ought to regard any sin or temptation to sin, however minor it may seem in the world's eyes, as seriously as if it can kill us, save for God's grace and mercy. Only then will we truly abhor sin, and properly appreciate the price that Jesus paid for our transgressions.

“Flee from sexual immorality....” (1 Corinthians 6:18)

“Therefore, my dear friends, flee from idolatry.” (1 Corinthians 10:14)

“For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord”

(Romans 6:23)