Obedience is Not a Diet

Well ladies, it has come to this! I must, once again, embark on that four letter word ... diet. How can anything that has D-I-E in it's first three letters be good for you? I guess, at least it does describe the way I am feeling like... I'm "DIEing" to have a cookie, or those cinnamon rolls are to "DIE" for! I have been struggling with my weight for a good three years now. I had my fourth child and my body forgot to stop looking pregnant! I had half my thyroid removed last year and that along with my age seem to really add to my struggle with loosing weight. Oh yes, and let's not forget the ice cream that soothes all stressful church moments.

When you decide to embark on a diet, it almost seems that the food police should read you your rights. It goes like this:

You have the right to remain eating salads.
Anything you eat or drink will be held against you
at your weekly weigh-in.
You have the right to complain about the diet to your girl friends,
and you may have a girl friend present while eating carrots.
If you cannot afford the special diet food, you may eat much smaller
portions of the stuff that made you fat in the first place!

I think by now you can tell that I really LOVE dieting! NOT!

Many months ago in my prayer time I felt the Holy Spirit say, "Debbie, obedience is not a diet." That was a surreal moment. I really strive to serve the Lord in all I do, but just like everyone some things come easier than others. I was asking the Lord for help in this area, and He gave me an answer that blew me away. Now, I wish I could tell you that - that very day I ran out joined a gym, ate correctly, and now am a size 10. Quite the opposite. Sometimes when God gives us an "inconvenient truth", it just makes us struggle that much more. Our old man pops out and we wrestle with what we should do as opposed to what seems (at the time) easier to do. In the long run it really isn't easier to not treat our bodies well. It just seems less scary, because as horrible we may feel, at least we know that not dieting means continuing to struggle with what we have come to live with.

Isn't that sooooo typical of Satan. Oh yes, we have a part to play, but he is so crafty. He takes a little problem and picks ever so slowly until one day we are in quite a snickers bar... a cake.... some chips... I mean a pickle. Then, Satan spends the rest of the time whispering lies that are designed to keep us trapped in a life less than God has designed for us. God's Word gives Satan the title of destroyer. It is his ultimate goal. Some issues need but a simple rebuke, and they seem to disappear. Other issues, just hover and make us or others around us struggle with the apparent sin in our lives. I think that is why God's answer left me so surprised. It really shouldn't have. Usually His answers are almost always simple yet powerful at the same time... Obedience is not a diet.

So, perhaps those first three letters, DIE, are just right. After all, that is what obedience is all about. I have to die to what I am doing and submit myself to the Lord. I may or may not do this new diet well. Nevertheless, I would rather scratch and crawl my way out of a Romans 7 existence. Romans 8 is just a chapter away in the Bible, but it is a life change away from having the life Christ already claimed for us.

What about you? What do you need to lay down at God's feet? Obedience is not a ________________. Remember giving our all to God is ultimately having victory ... even the harder stuff.

Romans 8:37 "No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us."