Temple

I love food. I love to eat good food. I love food so much that it has become an idol for me. Those of you who see me regularly see the results of this idol worship. I am currently about 70 lbs overweight, and I am on blood pressure medication because of my bad choices. The last couple of weeks I have begun to do something to improve my health. I have been walking every couple of days to try and get some exercise in my life (one day I accidentally walked 7 miles... yes I said accidentally, but we won't go into that right now). I like to walk it gives me time to talk and listen to God. I just got back home from a five mile walk and God was talking to me about my food consumption. I have no self control when it comes to eating. I go away from almost every meal feeling overly full. I am a glutton. I live to eat, not eat to live. I think the worst part about it is that I see my older son following in my footsteps. I am constantly warning him to have self control over his eating. But am I expecting him to do something I'm not willing to do? I think it's a case of do as I say not as I do.

The Bible says in 1 Corinthians 6:19-20

Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body.

The context of this passage is talking about sexual sin, but I think it applies to any aspect of your physical body that is out of control. For me this passage shouts at me that I am to watch very closely what I put into my mouth and how much of it. Instead of two or three greasy GFS burgers why not have just one and savor it a bit longer instead of gulping it down. I eat so fast that my stomach doesn't have time to tell my brain that I don't need any more food. I need to slow the pace down at our dinner table and actually have conversations with my family instead of rushing through the meal so we can get going on the next thing that doesn't really need to be done all that quickly.

As I prepare to move temporarily to California for training, God has impressed on me that this needs to be a time of total preparation: mind, spirit and body. God wants the whole package, not just the parts that you are willing to give Him. I will continue to work on giving up the idol of food and continue to exercise so that I can be prepared for what ever service He has in store for me.

All glory to God my provider.