Lose The Weight

I’ve decided that losing weight is just too hard for me.  As I noted last week, our schedule is too rough and we end up eating at strange times, and often we don’t have time to make a good-for-us kind of meal.  But to me that isn’t even my biggest problem.  That would be the fact that I love all the things that just aren’t good for me.  I love chocolate.  I like pop.  I LOVE bread.  I am not a big fruit eater, though there are a few that I do like.  When I am hungry between meals, peeling a banana or orange is just too much work when you compare that to putting my hand in a bag of chips and getting some out. 

Yet, with all of that said I’m not happy with where I am.  I know a lot of that is just an excuse.  If I truly wanted to lose the weight I could, right?  It would be much easier if I talked to God about it and let Him lead my weight loss, right?  So the only way it’s going to change is if I make a step in the correct direction.

This is almost parallel to people and their relationship with God.  There are many people in the world who think that having a relationship with God could be a good thing for them, but they aren’t willing to give up the things in their lives that they like.  They like going out drinking and partying all the time.  Their favorite rock band or singer curses all the time and they couldn’t see giving that up.  Maybe they love porn or cursing themselves and couldn’t see giving that up.  It’s also easier just to stay where they are than to make the move into the unknown.

Just like with weight loss, it’s easier to give excuses and not make a change.  It’s easy to see the benefits but hard to make the change.  The incentive seems so far away, quite often to the point that it’s too far away.  Yet, just like weight loss, when you start to see little progresses in your life they become addictive in their own right.  When you lose five pounds you think that maybe the end goal might be attainable.  Same with your life changing when you get a relationship with God.  He will take your life and change it little by little until it’s so much better. 

Can you do it?  Yes, 100% yes.  Don’t give up, go towards the goal, and enjoy the small victories that are leading toward the bigger ones.  You are worth it, and a life with God is worth it as well.

Bungee

Have any of you ever wanted to bungee jump?  I can honestly say that it’s not really something I’m ever going to be interested in.  I’ve seen it done a number of times on TV, and that is more than enough for me personally.

The other weekend I heard a reference to bungee jumping that got my attention, and I thought it might interest you as well:

Quite often as Christians we go about our lives as if we are at the edge of a bridge and about to jump.  But instead of the strong relationship with Christ that we could have that is like a bungee cord, we instead jump into every day with just a piece of string.  Not fully willing to trust in God, we instead act like what we have is strong enough, and when the string breaks we often wonder why.  God then lowers the bungee cord to save us, the cord that was always available if we had just trusted Him.

So this week’s lesson is this:  The stronger your relationship with Christ is, the easier the bounce back will be when we fall.  Let’s be honest, we are all going to fall at some point.  We are all sinners so let’s not act like we’re not.  We need huge amounts of God in our lives that make the bounce back from those sins smaller.  With only a little bit of God in our lives the string will break, and we will fall hard.  I don’t know about you, but I prefer a stronger cord than to fall on my face when I do fall.

Negotiating

The time of year just passed when we all went out and hit the stores looking for the gifts that our loved ones will truly cherish.  We looked through the store ads and went from store to store hunting for just that perfect item.  Some of us even went so far as to haggle on a price or features for the items that we were looking to purchase.  We might have gotten a free extended warranty or the price chopped off at this store because another store has it cheaper.

It’s all of those negotiations that has me thinking this week.  How often have you negotiated with God?  You know, you tell God that you are only going to sin this one last time, and because you did it you’ll then never do it again, or give to some cause.  Have you ever done that?  Maybe you skipped church today and instead will make sure to pray every day this week.  The next question is how often did you hold up the other end of that bargain you were trying to negotiate?

Today I just want to remind you that God doesn't want to negotiate.  He has set forth his terms way before you and I were born.  They are all listed in the Bible.  We can take them or leave them.  God wants each and every one of us to have a relationship with Him.  He is waiting for all of us with arms wide open.  God doesn’t say that you have to feed the hungry (although it’s a wonderful thing to do) before He will love you.  Instead, He just loves you.  God wants you to believe in Him and all that He is doing, and to be a part of it all.  So stop trying to make deals, just give yourself to God and enjoy a wonderful life with Him.

Add A Date

So there are two really important dates in everyone’s lives.  Those obviously would be the day you were born and the day you die.  For those of us who have a relationship with Christ, that adds another important date to the calendar.  Right?

But here is my question to all my Christian friends:  Why don’t we celebrate this date every year as well?  Why don’t we put that out there as a Facebook status like we do our birthdays, anniversaries, birth of our kids, etc.  Are we all afraid of what others will think?  Are we embarrassed?  Oh, and don’t worry, I’m including myself here as well!

So, today I am starting a movement of sorts I guess.  If we are truly proud of the relationship with Christ that we have, then it’s time to proclaim it for the world.  It’s time to let everyone know how proud we are of knowing Him and that just may make others want that relationship as well.