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.