Diets and Sin, Part II

Yes, the diet is going well; first time I've actually stuck one out this long - 17 pounds in 17 days. Anyway, the weight loss is not the big deal, it's really the lessons. I'm pretty convinced God can teach you anything in any experience if you are just open and attentive.

So, a few more lessons:
1. A few days ago, while running some errands, I passed by a restaurant that smelled particularly good. From the parking lot of another store, my senses were pleasantly assaulted. I mean I smelled something good, really good. What came to mind as that nasal temptation lingered is that sinful behavior or godly behavior work the same way. When we get near enough to smell something tempting, it is very likely to draw us in. The best thing to do is stay far away from the aroma of temptation. Now, that's probably no surprise, but think of the positive application of that same principle. When we have walked with God, when we have "tasted and seen that the Lord is good," His aroma, the aroma of godliness can draw us in. The more positive experiences we have in walking with the Lord, the more we experience His goodness and faithfulness, the greater our appetite for Him. I want the smell of godliness to become so appealing to me that the temptations this world assails me with have no pleasurable draw.

2. About mid-way through the diet (day 11 or so), I stalled. I stopped losing any weight. For four days I was stuck at the same weight. I panicked initially and then I remembered the book said it was common to stall about half-way through for 4-6 days. Sure enough, on day 5, I dropped 3 pounds which put me right back on track with my pound per day average. Now, I'll be honest, even though I knew the stall was normal, four days of no results was pretty disheartening. There were even a few brief moments of "I might as well quit." It was discouraging, but then came day 5 - more progress. I find the same is true in my spiritual life. There are times I stall out, make little progress, and get discouraged. As Chuck Swindoll said, it's three steps forward, two steps back. The two steps back aren't any fun, but it's still progress. We just have to hang on and press on. I have to focus on the positive God is working in my life. When I fall back I cannot allow satan to beat me down and convince me to give up. I need to look for the next forward step and focus on the success God gives me. Success breeds success.

3. Because I wasn't all that fat or unhealthy looking (I like to wear loose fitting clothes) when people would hear I was on a diet they would ask "WHY!" You know, how something looks on the outside doesn't tell everything. I didn't look bad, but my body fat % was quite high and despite working out almost daily I never lost weight (doesn't help that I eat like a pig - may surprise some of you, but food is one area where I have no self-control. Really, around my house they hide stuff from me - if I see a package of Oreos, I won't eat one or two, I'll eat the whole package). Well I digress (sounds like digest - wish I had something to digest right now). So, you see where I'm going here...spiritually, it's definitely not how we look on the outside but what's happening inside. Remember man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart (I Samuel 16:7). Jesus, in talking about the Pharisees (very religious people), said they were like "white washed tombs" - looking good on the outside, but filled with death, rotten, stinking. I want to be careful, when I look in the mirror spiritually, that I'm looking past the outward appearance and really letting the Spirit of God show me my heart. It may take some pretty strict dieting from the world, but I'd rather my heart be really healthy than just look good to others.

Diets and Sin

So I started this diet over the weekend. I'm not a big diet person, but I am a big person, hence the diet. I really haven't tried diets much before because I was too hungy. Without too much boring detail, one of the fascinating aspects of this particular diet is that to kick in the fat-burning process, the first two days of the diet you get to gorge on every fattening, sweet, non-healthy, high carb food you can imagine. (After those two days you drop to 500 calories a day, not the point of this post, just looking for a little sympathy).

This past Sunday and Monday were my gorge days. I was pretty excited leading up to it, but what I didn't know - gorging can make you absolutely sick of even your favorite foods. Sunday a.m. I had a HUGE breakfast. Between services, although I wasn't hungry, I had a hearty snack. At lunch I scarfed down a big serving of pasta and bread. Then I decided to have some cheesecake (one of my favs). After about two bites, it was all I could do to get the cheesecake down - definitely did not enjoy it! That afternoon I had a chocolate shake and cookies, followed by a feast at Mi Ranchito Sunday night. Even Mi Ranchito, which I absolutely love, was not very enjoyable. I was absolutely stuffed and wanted nothing. Monday was no better. Fat juicy burgers, shakes and fries, pizza and chocolate chip pie.

During the two days, several thoughts occured to me about how my gluttonous experience was a lot like sin:
1. I really thought I would enjoy having everything I wanted in excess; the reality was much more miserable than I anticipated. Sin is like that - Hebrews says it's pleasures last only for a season - looks like fun, but you end up totally miserable.
2. During the two days I was pigging out, I tried to sneak around as much as possible. I would look around and see if anyone I knew was in the restaurant because I didn't want anyone to see me shoveling all that food in my face. When a believer sins, they know what they are doing is wrong and they usually try to hide.
3. As I waddled from place to place (that's what it felt like) I imagined that everyone was watching me, that everyone knew what I'd been doing. We are all pretty adept at hiding our sin, but those closest to us, those who really care will probably notice something is up. Why do we play games and hide when confession and honesty will bring great relief? We need people to be accoutable to, people who care enough to confront when we are "fat with sin."
4. Sometimes in the middle of eating some massive amount of junk I would feel like I couldn't get through, but I would push on because it just seemed the thing to do - "I've gone this far, why stop now." With sin, as a believer, the Holy Spirit is speaking. Often we know in the middle of the sin that we need to stop but we carry on - "I've gone this far..." How much easier would it be to repent and change course if we listened early on before too much damage was done?
5. On Monday at lunchtime, I was excited about a big burger and fries at 5 Guys. Louanne didn't want to go in with me because she doesn't eat like that. So, I got out at 5 Guys and she went down the street to Quiznos. It's kind of lonely eating by yourself. Sin is lonely; it breaks fellowship with God and those around you.
6. During the two days of packing in the calories and fat, I felt like I was carrying a huge load. My actual weight probably only went up about five pounds, but I felt heavily burdened. Do I have to tell anyone how difficult the burden of sin is and how much better we feel when the load has been removed?
7. Monday night, after my second piece of chocolate chip pie, I was having difficulty just getting my breath. Anna Grace looked across the table at me and said, "Dad, you better be right about this diet; you have no hope if this doesn't work." Because I had been thinking for two days about all the analogies between the diet and sin, I immediately thought about my hope in Christ. If it were not for Him, I would have no hope. I would forever be bound to "waddle" through life, feeling miserable and burdened, with a trail of broken relationships, having no better plan than to keep on doing the same miserable thing.

I don't want to sin. I do want to please Him. Maybe the next time temptation comes I can remember all I learned about sin and misery from my diet.