I have spent some real time this week praying and just hangin out with God and I discovered something that is kinda surprising to me.
Bad habits feel awfully good.
I was never really consciously aware of this. Good habits, while great for you, are not really all that fun and don't really seem to offer very much variety at all. I was considering my eating habits. Having cut back on a lot of my favorite things and being faced with a very limited range of choices at the time, it dawned on me that as much as I want to get healthy, I also really dont want to let go of that stuff that I like so much. Because it just tastes really good. And it's not that I dont like fruits and veggies and all. Because really I do. Fruit is one of my favorite things. It's just that healthy food is so... well... healthy.
There doesn't seem to be anything decadent or indulgent about it. Nothing that just makes you feel good. Not a thing that feeds your fleshly craving for richness - at least nothing that feeds mine.
Just keepin it real.
But I know that I have to cultivate some better habits and a more thoughtful approach to what goes in my mouth - beyond the normal not eating fastfood and not having sweets as much. I have to really truly consider my diet and eliminate (or seriously reduce) those things that don't contribute to a healthy me.
For heaven's sake, I have to do what's right.
And once I thought about this in the context of food, I thought about it as it relates to other bad habits as well. And I came to the same conclusion for them all. We just gotta do what's right.
I was so convicted. Convicted enough that I doubt I will be able to casually indulge in un-healthy food anymore. Which was really the point for me, I'm sure.
THEN, as I thought the lesson through I realized that this same mentality is what keeps many from coming to Christ and what keeps even more who HAVE come to Christ from ever really EXPERIENCING Him.
Because, let's just be honest here. The world doesn't taste all that bad. Live and let live, to each his own, if it feels good do it. That mentality is pretty appealing because it leaves us unaccountable for the choices we make. And who doesn't want to be free?
Thought so.
But here's the rub; the RIGHT way tastes pretty good too. You just have to dig deeper than the surface and go beyond the box.
If I'm honest, the way that I have been about this food thing is the way I was about my walk with Christ. I didn't wanna be THAT girl. You know her. Fanatical and crazy. Bible-thumpin' and ALWAYS talkin about Jesus. Because dude seriously, I'm wierd enough as it is. Not like I needed some help in that department.
But just like I've finally done with this food thing, spiritually I got sick of being out of the loop. I'd heard enough people go on and on about God and His faithfulness and all that. And I supposed they were right. But I got tired of not knowing for myself. I figured me and Him needed to really get to know one another. I needed to get deeper with Him and really put some elbow grease into that part of my life. Because grazing the surface and speaking in Christian just wasn't gettin it for me any more.
I didn't expect to enjoy it. I just decided it was right and I could endure it.
And like a ton of bricks, I realized that I wasn't just enduring it. I was flat out ENJOYING it. And all that other stuff that was so appealing before? Not so much now. Don't get me wrong. I still enjoy a lot of the things I enjoyed before I got serious about God, but I dont think I'm losing something if I have to give it up for a while to be with Him or to attend to His agenda instead of my own. It is actually for htat reason that I find it to be more pleasureable now than it was before.
And for the things that I gave up permanently. Well... I dont really even recall what they were like anymore, if that tells you anything at all.
The desire it gone and I dont feel in the least bit deprived. I just feel really... clean...
That's how my body feels when I treat it well.
Clean...
The same way my spirit feels when I cultivate my relationship with God.
Clean.
As I enter into this journey to cultivate a healthier lifestyle this year, I'm challenging you too. I'm challenging you to not see your relationship with God as something you do because it's right, but to see it instead as a source of Joy.
Dig deep. Go outside the box. And drink Him up. You won't be hungry, you won't be bored, and you won't be lacking in that indulgent feeling we tend to seek through so many other venues.
Give up just one thing that you know you should, but hate to let go of.
I'm doin' it too, so we'll be doin this togehter. I have made a commitment to my physical well being because I want my outside to match the inside.
Join in.
Bad habits feel awfully good.
I was never really consciously aware of this. Good habits, while great for you, are not really all that fun and don't really seem to offer very much variety at all. I was considering my eating habits. Having cut back on a lot of my favorite things and being faced with a very limited range of choices at the time, it dawned on me that as much as I want to get healthy, I also really dont want to let go of that stuff that I like so much. Because it just tastes really good. And it's not that I dont like fruits and veggies and all. Because really I do. Fruit is one of my favorite things. It's just that healthy food is so... well... healthy.
There doesn't seem to be anything decadent or indulgent about it. Nothing that just makes you feel good. Not a thing that feeds your fleshly craving for richness - at least nothing that feeds mine.
Just keepin it real.
But I know that I have to cultivate some better habits and a more thoughtful approach to what goes in my mouth - beyond the normal not eating fastfood and not having sweets as much. I have to really truly consider my diet and eliminate (or seriously reduce) those things that don't contribute to a healthy me.
For heaven's sake, I have to do what's right.
And once I thought about this in the context of food, I thought about it as it relates to other bad habits as well. And I came to the same conclusion for them all. We just gotta do what's right.
I was so convicted. Convicted enough that I doubt I will be able to casually indulge in un-healthy food anymore. Which was really the point for me, I'm sure.
THEN, as I thought the lesson through I realized that this same mentality is what keeps many from coming to Christ and what keeps even more who HAVE come to Christ from ever really EXPERIENCING Him.
Because, let's just be honest here. The world doesn't taste all that bad. Live and let live, to each his own, if it feels good do it. That mentality is pretty appealing because it leaves us unaccountable for the choices we make. And who doesn't want to be free?
Thought so.
But here's the rub; the RIGHT way tastes pretty good too. You just have to dig deeper than the surface and go beyond the box.
If I'm honest, the way that I have been about this food thing is the way I was about my walk with Christ. I didn't wanna be THAT girl. You know her. Fanatical and crazy. Bible-thumpin' and ALWAYS talkin about Jesus. Because dude seriously, I'm wierd enough as it is. Not like I needed some help in that department.
But just like I've finally done with this food thing, spiritually I got sick of being out of the loop. I'd heard enough people go on and on about God and His faithfulness and all that. And I supposed they were right. But I got tired of not knowing for myself. I figured me and Him needed to really get to know one another. I needed to get deeper with Him and really put some elbow grease into that part of my life. Because grazing the surface and speaking in Christian just wasn't gettin it for me any more.
I didn't expect to enjoy it. I just decided it was right and I could endure it.
And like a ton of bricks, I realized that I wasn't just enduring it. I was flat out ENJOYING it. And all that other stuff that was so appealing before? Not so much now. Don't get me wrong. I still enjoy a lot of the things I enjoyed before I got serious about God, but I dont think I'm losing something if I have to give it up for a while to be with Him or to attend to His agenda instead of my own. It is actually for htat reason that I find it to be more pleasureable now than it was before.
And for the things that I gave up permanently. Well... I dont really even recall what they were like anymore, if that tells you anything at all.
The desire it gone and I dont feel in the least bit deprived. I just feel really... clean...
That's how my body feels when I treat it well.
Clean...
The same way my spirit feels when I cultivate my relationship with God.
Clean.
As I enter into this journey to cultivate a healthier lifestyle this year, I'm challenging you too. I'm challenging you to not see your relationship with God as something you do because it's right, but to see it instead as a source of Joy.
Dig deep. Go outside the box. And drink Him up. You won't be hungry, you won't be bored, and you won't be lacking in that indulgent feeling we tend to seek through so many other venues.
Give up just one thing that you know you should, but hate to let go of.
I'm doin' it too, so we'll be doin this togehter. I have made a commitment to my physical well being because I want my outside to match the inside.
Join in.
No comments:
Post a Comment