Self-Evaluation

Would you rather eat a slightly burnt cookie or a juicy ripe apple?
Would you rather eat stale potato chips or fresh baby carrots?
Would you rather drink a warm soda or ice cold water?

Too often I find myself going for the soda, cookie, and chips, no matter what kind of condition they're in. I went on this diet and lost weight and I have some more weight I want to lose. I have been exercising as well. But recent events (since the beginning of September) have really thrown me off my game.

I have been reaching for those temporary comforts which also happen to be the things that kill me (see my previous post). I have not been consistent in either diet or exercise, and I have been making excuses for myself. My last post was as much for me as for anyone who might be reading this, because I need the encouragement right now, not to fall prey to the same old sinful habits that so easily trip me up.

Why is it that we choose to settle so often for what is not good for us? I'm not just talking about food here. I was thinking about my sister's blog on "lip service" that "christians" pay to their faith/God. Dallas Willard says that we so often consider ourselves to be Christians simply because we "believe" what every demon knows to be true! We sell ourselves short. We settle for what seems close enough to doing the right thing, even though we know that something better exists. We have a comfortable cultural christianity that has very little to do with true faith.

It's a redundant question. The truth of the matter is, we are LAZY. We don't want the difficulty. We see someone take a stand - like my father, who has lost his severance and has had his morality called into question (ironically for asking his boss to be truthful) - and we see them face trials and persecutions from so-called christians and non-christians alike, simply for speaking the truth. And we close ourselves off in fear that we too might be called to lay it all on the line if we were to give ourselves fully to God.

We are content to view our choice to go to church on Sunday morning (over sleeping in) as a SACRIFICE on our part, something that makes us Holy and acceptable to God. When we make this easy living out to be a sacrifice, we belittle the sacrifice that God Himself made as our example. He DIED so that we can LIVE! And we choose to pollute our bodies and parcel off only a tiny portion of our thoughts and feelings for Him.

The real work of Satan isn't to convince us not to believe in Christ - it's to convince us that this is all God asks of us - this "chicken poop for the soul" type Christianity that my sister was reading/blogging about. Satan has done his work when we would rather eat freezer-burned ice cream than have fresh yogurt, and when we would rather unthinkingly swallow every word that comes out of a pastor's mouth than dig through His word and find the answer for ourselves.

So, which would you rather have - a vague hope that you might go to heaven when you die or a vibrant, intimate relationship with your Creator?