I just recently lost 60 pounds. That may not sound like a lot to some folks but it should because anyone that much over weight is just that, over weight. We make excuses that its either genes or "just a little over-weight". Sad because in most cases it is neither but more truthfully it is an unhealthy obsession.
As always, when I deliver the tough messages that many will not want to hear, I lead with Proverbs 18:13. He that answereth a matter before he heareth it, it is folly and shame unto him. Since this will be a literal punch in the gut for some (pun intended) that should keep the professing Christians reading.
When Paul said to work out your own salvation with fear and trembling he certainly did not include over eating. I have been reading scriptures on the fear of the Lord lately and realize that Paul accurately grouped fear and trembling together. We say we fear God but we certainly do not tremble as a people. If we did fear God then we would not abuse what He gave us, our bodies. We should be trembling when we abuse anything He has given us. That is if we truly fear Him.
Now before going to far I have to state that I needed to repent of over-eating myself. I had not truly repented (turned away from completely) until I was rid of the excess weight that was giving me high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and more pressure than I needed on two reconstructed knees, a reattached Achilles tendon and a bad back. It was not until I was able to keep the weight off for several months that I knew that I was now free from that mote (Definition of mote in the English language: http://1828.mshaffer.com/d/word/mote) in my eye where I could now freely plead to the professing Christians out there to do the same. Actually that was no mere mote for me but instead it was a 60 pound beam (most people should know what a beam is...).
Oswald J. Smith said“Oh my friends, we are loaded down with countless church activities, while the real work of the church, that of evangelizing the world and winning the lost, is almost entirely neglected!”
When I hear this quote I can’t help but think how important some things are for the church such as “Prayer” breakfasts and the after church buffets that the Baptists and other denominations are so famous for. Personally I recall these as being opportunities in my past to eat more than I ought to. I would literally load down myself so much that my weight would hinder me from fully ministering to others at my greatest potential. I know many in the church today that are in this condition. If their weight was kept at a healthy level they also would have a greater capacity to serve others.
I am not saying that prayer breakfasts and buffets are bad in and of themselves because the Bible is clear that eating with believers is truly a deep form of fellowship. The problem comes when their is grossly much more breakfast going on than prayer and when there are more on one’s plate from the buffet table than what is needed to do the work of the Lord. It gets to a point when it literally becomes a feeding of the flesh rather than the feeding of the spirit. It was not until I lost my weight that I truly understood this point.
To be honest I gave lip service as to why I was losing my weight. I truly was losing it so I could be in better health to care for my six children and my wife but I gave lip service to saying that it was truly for the Lord first and foremost. I pressed on through the weight control process with my own efforts and was truly not doing it out of fear and trembling for my Lord. I can honestly say that it would have been much easier and made more sense had I had that as my core motive for keeping myself under control. As I said before, I had repented for the excess weight but I also repented for not having my priorities for losing it in the correct order. I truly believe that the later carries more weight in God’s eyes.
The sad thing is it goes beyond the inability to “serve” as the church typically defines service but much deeper as Oswald J. Smith said. The real service or work is evangelizing the world and that is where God is deprived of the sacrifice He desires most and that is us working to seek and save that which was lost. Peter said that God is “...not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance”. That is the true desire of God, to have communion once again with those who were lost and with the excess weight it makes it harder for some and impossible for others to serve the Lord towards this end.
Some cannot serve at all in the physical realm due to their willful lack of the fear of God. I say that because it goes beyond what most would call just a lack of self control. That lack of self control at the end of the day is in reality not being in a trembling state within their souls before the one true living God. Had they had the fear of the Lord and were within their hearts on their knees trembling then they would not have that issue of the lack of self control. I was truly guilty of this very thing and I pray that I do not compromise in the future. I pray that I can continue to lay my gluttonous appetite in the flames of His alter.
In regards to weight control and self control in general here is what we are told from the Bible:
I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God. Romans 12:1-2
According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue: Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge; And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness; And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity. For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But he that lacketh these things is blind, and cannot see afar off, and hath forgotten that he was purged from his old sins. Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall: For so an entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. 2 Peter 1:3-11
Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain. And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible. I therefore so run, not as uncertainly; so fight I, not as one that beateth the air: But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway. 1 Corinthians 9:24-27
Brethren, be followers together of me, and mark them which walk so as ye have us for an ensample. (For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ: Whose end is destruction, whose God is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who mind earthly things.) For our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ: Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself. Philippians 3:17-21
Hopefully this will help some out there to see that when one does not keep their weight at a healthy level they are doing much more than harming themselves. Remember also that we can do all things through Christ! If we fear God properly then losing weight that is not needed makes perfect sense.
As always, when I deliver the tough messages that many will not want to hear, I lead with Proverbs 18:13. He that answereth a matter before he heareth it, it is folly and shame unto him. Since this will be a literal punch in the gut for some (pun intended) that should keep the professing Christians reading.
When Paul said to work out your own salvation with fear and trembling he certainly did not include over eating. I have been reading scriptures on the fear of the Lord lately and realize that Paul accurately grouped fear and trembling together. We say we fear God but we certainly do not tremble as a people. If we did fear God then we would not abuse what He gave us, our bodies. We should be trembling when we abuse anything He has given us. That is if we truly fear Him.
Now before going to far I have to state that I needed to repent of over-eating myself. I had not truly repented (turned away from completely) until I was rid of the excess weight that was giving me high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and more pressure than I needed on two reconstructed knees, a reattached Achilles tendon and a bad back. It was not until I was able to keep the weight off for several months that I knew that I was now free from that mote (Definition of mote in the English language: http://1828.mshaffer.com/d/word/mote) in my eye where I could now freely plead to the professing Christians out there to do the same. Actually that was no mere mote for me but instead it was a 60 pound beam (most people should know what a beam is...).
Oswald J. Smith said“Oh my friends, we are loaded down with countless church activities, while the real work of the church, that of evangelizing the world and winning the lost, is almost entirely neglected!”
When I hear this quote I can’t help but think how important some things are for the church such as “Prayer” breakfasts and the after church buffets that the Baptists and other denominations are so famous for. Personally I recall these as being opportunities in my past to eat more than I ought to. I would literally load down myself so much that my weight would hinder me from fully ministering to others at my greatest potential. I know many in the church today that are in this condition. If their weight was kept at a healthy level they also would have a greater capacity to serve others.
I am not saying that prayer breakfasts and buffets are bad in and of themselves because the Bible is clear that eating with believers is truly a deep form of fellowship. The problem comes when their is grossly much more breakfast going on than prayer and when there are more on one’s plate from the buffet table than what is needed to do the work of the Lord. It gets to a point when it literally becomes a feeding of the flesh rather than the feeding of the spirit. It was not until I lost my weight that I truly understood this point.
To be honest I gave lip service as to why I was losing my weight. I truly was losing it so I could be in better health to care for my six children and my wife but I gave lip service to saying that it was truly for the Lord first and foremost. I pressed on through the weight control process with my own efforts and was truly not doing it out of fear and trembling for my Lord. I can honestly say that it would have been much easier and made more sense had I had that as my core motive for keeping myself under control. As I said before, I had repented for the excess weight but I also repented for not having my priorities for losing it in the correct order. I truly believe that the later carries more weight in God’s eyes.
The sad thing is it goes beyond the inability to “serve” as the church typically defines service but much deeper as Oswald J. Smith said. The real service or work is evangelizing the world and that is where God is deprived of the sacrifice He desires most and that is us working to seek and save that which was lost. Peter said that God is “...not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance”. That is the true desire of God, to have communion once again with those who were lost and with the excess weight it makes it harder for some and impossible for others to serve the Lord towards this end.
Some cannot serve at all in the physical realm due to their willful lack of the fear of God. I say that because it goes beyond what most would call just a lack of self control. That lack of self control at the end of the day is in reality not being in a trembling state within their souls before the one true living God. Had they had the fear of the Lord and were within their hearts on their knees trembling then they would not have that issue of the lack of self control. I was truly guilty of this very thing and I pray that I do not compromise in the future. I pray that I can continue to lay my gluttonous appetite in the flames of His alter.
In regards to weight control and self control in general here is what we are told from the Bible:
I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God. Romans 12:1-2
According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue: Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge; And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness; And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity. For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But he that lacketh these things is blind, and cannot see afar off, and hath forgotten that he was purged from his old sins. Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall: For so an entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. 2 Peter 1:3-11
Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain. And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible. I therefore so run, not as uncertainly; so fight I, not as one that beateth the air: But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway. 1 Corinthians 9:24-27
Brethren, be followers together of me, and mark them which walk so as ye have us for an ensample. (For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ: Whose end is destruction, whose God is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who mind earthly things.) For our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ: Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself. Philippians 3:17-21
Hopefully this will help some out there to see that when one does not keep their weight at a healthy level they are doing much more than harming themselves. Remember also that we can do all things through Christ! If we fear God properly then losing weight that is not needed makes perfect sense.
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