Sugar-free, Fat-free and JESUS

I must admit, I am a little bit disappointed at the moment....happy, but disappointed.  Let me explain....for the past month I have been rigidly watching what goes in my mouth.  Not dieting, just eating healthy.  The annual doctor visit and lab tests in April delivered shocking numbers and left me in a place of needing to adjust my diet even further than I had done in the past.  For the last year I have deleted a lot of sugar and white flour from my diet, as well as high-fat foods (or so I thought).  Well, I won't drag this out....suffice it to say, I was not eating as healthy as I had convinced myself.  So with a month of being a good girl and keeping a food journal, I am sensing I have done well....a doctor visit just around the corner and encouraged in that there should be some changes in my cholesterol and sugar levels.  I "feel" good, lost some weight in the process and know that at this point in my life, I am on a healthy journey for the long run....


My disappointment arrived this morning when I finally found the recipe of a soup I have been dying to try.....and I discovered I could probably die if I made it.  A cream of asparagus soup made with applewood smoked bacon.  Frying bacon....using the bacon grease as a base and later on adding cream to complete this incredible soup - not to mention the butter-laden bread they tell you to eat with the soup!  My joy at finding the recipe dissipated when I realized "there is no way I can eat this!"  (now, I have been tweaking recipes all month and know that I can make this work...without all the fat and cream).  My thought process, however initially was "why are all the really delicious things so bad for me??"  Hmmm......


Tossing the recipe aside, Bible and coffee mug in hand, I settled in for my time with the Lord....and the Holy Spirit showed up.  Why does sin seem so enticing at the moment....really fun....instant gratification.....yet so bad for us.  (I'm not talking food here, but the analogy is appropriate).   We want to do something or have something that is not in our best interest, but yet we go ahead because we want it now.  We are extremely short-sighted.  In the book of Proverbs, lady Wisdom over and over again calls us from the road of foolishness and beckons us to take the road of wisdom and life.  Yet, so often, the road of foolishness is taken and we pay for it in the long run.  


1 Timothy 4:8 says ....train yourself to be godly.  For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come.  Spiritually speaking, if I forsake those things that are not good for me (as delicious as they may seem at the moment) and set my eyes on seeking godliness, righteousness and taking the road of wisdom and life, my long-term outlook has promise....in this life and the life to come.  This encompasses everything from spending time in the Word daily, prayer, my relationships, my tongue - how I talk about people, how I spend my time, honesty/integrity....just reading the book of Proverbs sets out a course to take for our lives.  


If I am short-sighted and want to eat that soup now.....I will pay down the road with my health.  If I am short-sighted and decide to take a detour in my journey with God and pursue something that is not good for me but will give me a measure of "happiness" at the moment.....I will pay in the long run.  I want the JOY, not the momentary happiness.


Oh, how I want to be looking further down that road and not in the moment....making decisions that have eternal ramifications.  Hebrews 12: 1-3 says "Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses (cheering us on, yeah!!), let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so EASILY ENTANGLES and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.  Let us FIX OUR EYES ON JESUS....."   And the only way, I am going to be able to have the wisdom, strength and grace to run and stay on this road, is by spending time daily with the One who can guide me.  And that, my friend, tastes tastes pretty delicious day to day!!!!!  What He has for us is incomparable to what this earth offers.  I develop a taste for the things of God (just as I develop a taste over time for the sugar-free, non-fat life...our physical body does adjust and you eventually dislike the sugary and fatty foods).  In the same way, the more we spend time pursuing godliness, the more uncomfortable we become with ungodliness in our own lives.


Thank you, Jesus, that not only do I learn something about short-sightedness in my eating habits (by not eating that soup...I will be healthier and my test results will reflect that :), but I also heard from You about looking long-term down that road of life pursuing godliness both in this present life and the life to come!  And that tastes sooooooo good!