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Forty Pounds! At least that is what the scale indicates as my weight loss total. Well, that’s if my subtraction is accurate. Predictably, whenever a person sheds weight, one of the first questions that he/she is presented with is “how did you do it?” Its a good question, obviously everyone wants to know the secret sauce, the big plan, the amazing pill, etc… Was it slim fast, advocare, weight watchers? Perhaps an exercise program like P90X, or Insanity. In all honesty, I have either tried and thought about trying each of these in the past, but to no avail. The plain fact is that healthy eating, and the shedding of unwanted fat will never occur unless you have the proper motivation. Yes, motivation is the key. If you want to do anything meaningful in life, you have to have a good reason for doing it, because any meaningful thing worth doing will be difficult. In our journey of life there will always come a point at which the mountain seems too steep, the valley too low, and the road too long. However, if we are motivated for the right reason there will never be a mountain, valley, or road that cannot be vanquished.
As I said, I have tried many times in the past to drop some weight, but failed in every instance. What makes this time different? Motivation. In the past I desired to lose weight so that I could feel better. However, I felt pretty good when I was eating chocolate cake. I then tried the motivation of looking good. Yet, a new coat and a new shirt always seems to soften the pain. Then there is the motive of being healthy for my kids. Now this is a tough one, but there is a loophole if you look hard enough. It usually goes something like this… “when I diet, I’m grumpy, when I’m grumpy I have a bad attitude and a low tolerance level, and when I am feeling this way, I tend to speak harshly with my children and fail to enjoy our time together.” Of course all of these reasons are poor, I never said that they weren’t, but that does not me that they did not work, because they always did.
Yet, one day as I was pondering yet another weight loss undertaking a brand new motivation began to emerge. It all started with the idea of “calories”. “What is a calorie?” I ask myself. It was a rhetorical question of course, I knew that a calorie is a means to measure energy that the body takes in and expends, an energy unit. What was interesting was the notion that there are only so many energy units that a person has to work with for any given day, a kind of default, pre-conditioned allotment. Now, if I am a very active person I need more calories because I burn more calories, and if I am less active I need less calories, because I burn less calories. Regardless of my activity, the human body tends to naturally use the same amount of calories each day. But why? This is the way that God has created you and me.
In the book of Genesis we learn that God not only created human beings, but he defined them as well. Therefore, God placed boundaries around human living, indicating that anything done outside of the boundary is not human activity or “subhuman” living. This is why the church speaks so strongly against homosexuality and sexual perversion of any kind. This principle is also the bedrock of why the people of God espouse holy living, not as a means of attaining God’s favor, but as a requisite of enjoying the goodness that God has always desired for us.
The same God that created “maleness” and “femaleness” is also the God who created calories. Is it within the scope of possibility that this God created humans to run on only so much energy (calories) a day. Is it also possible that God has an expectation that humans should only consume as many calories as are necessary, no more and no less. It is interesting that He did not create us as an automobile functions. With an automobile, one can only put so much gasoline in before it begins to run out of the tank. Automobiles are built to prevent overfilling, even gas pumps will shut off before its too late. God did not create the automatic shut off, rather He has left the responsibility to you and me. Its a question of trust and obedience. Are you willing to live by God’s rules or your own. Calories are just one more example of God’s boundaries in this life. A means of grace by which God will further redeem us.
Just how much of my life is God interested in. He is interested in me to such a degree that even the calories that I consume are his concern. I think of the manna given the Israelites in the wilderness. God instructed Moses… “I am about to rain bread from heaven for you, and the people shall go out and gather a day's portion every day, that I may test them, whether they will walk in my law or not.” Would they trust God for his provision, or would they take the situation into their own hands?
Now I think I hear you asking, “but why did God create calories in the first place?” “Why not avoid the whole issue altogether?” Trust. Upon whom do you depend? In whom do you trust? We say, “God, of course”! “Well then” God replies, “show me in the way that you live, in the way that you give, in the way that you eat.” “If I’m your one and only God, then give me your fork, live by my rules, trust in me.” Ah, that’s the motivation that I needed. I was dieting, not for me, not for another, but for God. He wants me, every part of me, even my food. Many times we think of holiness as something that we do at an altar, or in great acts of compassion. While these events certainly express the marks of holiness, I have learned that holiness is just as present in the small things. These are the things that only you can see. Holiness asks the question, “just how much are you willing to give to God?” “How serious are you about this Christian walk?” Personally, there are many places that I have great need of his grace, but at this moment, he has my fork, and by His grace he will keep it.
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