“I weep with sorrow, encourage me by Your word. Keep me from lying to myself; give me the privilege of knowing Your instructions.” (Psalm 119:28-29 NLT)
About what do you tend to lie to yourself the most? Do words like: “Just this once.” Or “This will be the last time, Lord, I promise!” sound familiar? Heartache and sorrow usually follow our lies, but, unfortunately, that’s not enough. We lick our wounds, get up determined to be different, only to rewind and repeat. But why?
Satan is a liar. He can’t help it, it’s just who he is. And what he knows best, he teaches best and, to our demise, we’re his best students. Just like Eve and Adam in the Garden, we fall for his lies and seek for the rest of our lives to find a way to take it back, but to no avail.
My mind is too often the devil’s playground, playing back the scenes I remember best, with the most regret. The times my miserable failures have demanded the most painful payment. Why are we such suckers for what we already know is a lie?
It’s no secret chocolate ice cream and chocolate cake taste better than asparagus, cabbage, and raw onions. And cherry pie with some Vanilla Bean ice cream slides down so much easier than a healthy salad, but oh the price we pay over time. If the Lord had only given me wisdom enough to realize what I was doing to my body when I was young was going to cost me dearly when I got old, perhaps things would be different now.
But here’s the kicker – HE DID! Dozens of times in countless ways, but you know what? I lied to myself, thinking “that won’t happen to me!” But it did! Why? Because I believed a lie. And here’s the even bigger kicker – so did many of you. Some of you in your 30’s, 40’s, 50’s are eating yourself to death, but you’re not willing to do anything about it now while you can. Why not?
It might be different if he sat a glass of poison in front of us, but that’s exactly what he’s doing in much of what we eat and drink, just in much smaller doses. Because the lies we’re telling ourselves taste too good or make us feel too good. And the sad truth is, we do the same thing with sin. We watch “that” or listen to “this,” ignoring time in God’s Word, prayer, service, worship, and many other opportunities because “There’ll be time for that!” But that’s a lie…and you know it!
The words of God in Deuteronomy 30 haunt me, as I pray they do you, when He said: “Today I have given you the choice between life and death, between blessings and curses. Now I call on heaven and earth to witness the choice you make. Oh, that you would choose life, so that you and your descendants might live! You can make this choice by loving the Lord your God, obeying Him, and committing yourself firmly to Him. This is the key to your life.”
Perhaps some will say or think: “Praise God! I made that decision many years ago!” And I hope you did. I did, but I still continued to believe the lies that caused me to treat that decision as a “spiritual” decision, not a “body, mind, soul, and strength” decision. The truth is we DO become what we eat, for good or ill, and whether or not we like to think of it like this, as your body goes, so goes you and your service to God.
Some refer to Alzheimer’s as Type 3 Diabetes, with the clear implication, I could easily have missed this diagnosis by paying more attention to what I was eating and by taking better care of my body when I was younger. Care of your body through what you eat, drink, and how you exercise is a critical aspect of your loving God with your whole heart, mind, soul, and BODY!
PLEASE stop believing the lies that tell you otherwise!
Food for thought.
Blessings, Ed 😊
Walking With Jesus 