and the One who walks with me on it.

Saturday, September 22, 2012

Six Feet Under

       Have you ever been convicted to do something and you just didn’t want to do it, so you kept putting it off week after week.  That was me just about a month ago.  It’s been over a year the Lord has been telling me to eat healthier.  To look at me, I’m fairly lightweight, but don’t let that fool you.  My diet was full of sugars, carbs, chocolates, and all kinds of things that didn’t make for a healthy me.  Well, God’s patience only lasted as long as He wanted it to, and then He took His protection off.  All of a sudden, I was experiencing gastrointestinal problems any time I ate!

       So, did I manage to change?  Yes I did.  See, I tend to be a visual learner (meaning I learn best by seeing) so every time I wanted something unhealthy, I pictured myself six feet under in a casket.  No, I’m not being morbid, just picturing what the Bible says.  We are supposed to be dead to sin.  If we are dead, we can’t move, take, chew, hear, see  sin.  I’m sure if I were in a box six feet underground, there is no way I could reach up and take those cookies I wanted, that chocolate bar I craved, that big piece of cake calling to me, “Vicky

Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Rom. 6:11
For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live.  Rom. 8:13 (mortify- kill, cause to be put to death)

       Our bodies want to do all kinds of things that we shouldn’t, and that is why we are carnally minded (Rom. 8:6*) and increase our carnal appetites.  Our mind wanders to all the things we want, then our flesh kicks in and says, “Yes, I want that, really bad!”  Then we go and get it and thereby we ‘feed’ the flesh which ultimately brings death (*).  The other thing that helps me is to remember,

Those who belong to Christ have nailed their natural evil desires to his cross and crucified them there.  Gal. 5:14 TLB
I am crucified with Christ… Gal 2:20 
(believer)take up his cross daily, and follow me.  Lk. 9:23

       Sometimes it also helps for me to picture myself nailed to the cross with Jesus who is all bruised and bloodied for me.  Then I think about how sad He must be when I won’t do His will because my flesh doesn’t want me to.  Somehow, no excuse seems to work after imagining Him suffering on the cross; and that helps me ‘mortify’ my body.  And so daily I do my best (certainly not perfect here!) to crucify myself which means my flesh is dead, and that helps me to make healthier choices in my day.  For me, it is best that my flesh remain six feet under.

       If there is something the Lord is convicting you about, don’t wait to work on it.  It doesn’t have to be a food issue, but there are so many issues of the flesh to pick from, aren’t there.  Start to make effort toward what God wants you to work on using methods that will help you.  And never stop praying for help!!!