Indulgences

It is amazing how God seems to place before exactly what we need, when we need it.  This week hasn't been great for me.  I gave into my weakness for donuts one stormy day this week.  But the very next day, in my devotions, God placed before me exactly what I needed to hear.  In the Lord's Table Mike Cleveland writes "Food is not the problem. . . So, understanding that the condition of being overweight comes from indulging the flesh, it is foolish to change the kinds of foods with which we indulge the flesh.  If I forsake eating all breads and only indulge with meat, what have I profited?  My heart and lifestyle have not changed, and even though I might lose weight for a time it will surely come back on until I learn that the problem is that I have a habit of indulging my flesh, rather than just what kind of food I eat".

Wow!  How many of us have fought that fight - eliminating carbs, eliminating sugar, eliminating red meat - you name it we remove it.  For most of us that has not been successful.  So until we learn that it has to do with how we indulge our desires and flesh rather than what we are eating we will continue to fail.  Think about it.  Every time I have tried to eliminate a food from my diet it is the only food I crave.  It is worse.

But is being full in Christ enough to change our habits?  It should be but is it?  I ate too many donuts this week but threw the last ones away.  Baby steps people, baby steps.

Matthew 5:25 "For this reason I say to you, do not be worried about your life, as to what you will eat or what you will drink; nor for your body, as to what you will put on.  Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?"