Life Dieting

So I've been put on this really intense diet for the remainder of my pregnancy and it has certainly given me a new respect for your dieters out there. Until now, thanks to great genes and a whole lot of sports, I have never had to go on a diet or, in all honesty, even pay attention to what I eat. Until now, I have laughed to myself at dieters who complain. No longer; I get it now. Because, even though I know how important it is for my health and the health of my child, sometimes a piece of candy or a cupcake sounds too good to pass up. It's obviously absurd if you think about it. I have less than ten weeks left in my pregnancy and if I keep to this diet I will have way better chances of delivering a healthy baby and being healthy myself. Yet I still want the chocolate. I trade health for chocolate; a life for ten weeks. Sound silly? Or does it sound like your lifestyle?

I saw a video of a speech (or sermon, or something like that) where Francis Chan, author of Crazy Love, explained why he had given up much of his time and life savings to working with the homeless. His reason came with an illustration that went something like this: 

Imagine a rope that extends from this stage to the back of the sanctuary and imagine it represents your eternal life. On the rope is a highlighted part about six inches in length, and this part, in comparison to the rest of the rope, illustrates your life on earth. Many people think it's crazy to give up something within the highlighted part in order to make a difference in the rest of the rope. But doesn't that seem twisted? They have focused on the small highlighted portion and missed the rest of the rope. They have focused on this life and missed out on living for the eternal life.

Yikes. This is something that is so easy to do. We forget about eternity and focus only on building up our future. If we lived in the moment, all the while remembering the impact our choices have on the eternal, we would become so much more effective in the world. 

The Israelites had this problem of nearsightedness. After Moses led them out of Egypt and they were traipsing their way through the desert, they complained, "If only we had died by the Lord's hand in Egypt! There we sat around pots of meat and ate all the food we wanted, but you have brought us out into this desert to starve this entire assembly to death!" (Exodus 16:3). Please notice their anger! They had just been delivered from slavery by miracle upon miracle. Not only that, but they were actually heading to the "Promised Land" to live in safety and establish their people. Yet at the first sign of trouble, the Promised land suddenly seemed far off while the memories of Egypt didn't seem so bad.

Jesus understood how difficult this would be and he gave hard instructions to point out just how important it is to live for the eternal. He said, "If your hand or foot causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life maimed or crippled than to have two hands and two feet and be thrown into eternal fire" (Matthew 18:8). Then in John, Jesus says, "Anyone who loves their life will lose it, while anyone who hates their life in this world will keep it for eternal life" (John 12:25). I wouldn't say this means you need to hate your life in the way we think of it. Rather, in comparison to your love for God and following his will, your life should mean nothing. Do you love God that much? Or is there something in your life that you would refuse to give up to follow his call?

So what takes your eyes off the promised land? Sin seems so appealing when we forget the reason for which we should resist temptation. In our culture of instant gratification, eternity seems a long way off. But we are told to run from anything that causes us to forget about God and eternity. Are you having a hard time giving up something for your figurative ten weeks while health and life stand in the balance? Cut it out and surrender it and turn your focus back to God and the eternal. Only when you do that can you truly live.