Job 28:28
And this is what he says to all mankind: ‘Look, to fear the Lord is true wisdom; to forsake evil is real understanding.’”
The
Living Bible copyright © 1971 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by
permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois
60188. All rights reserved.
I was watching a show
about people who weigh more than 600 pounds and desperately want gastric
bypass surgery to help them lose weight. On one particular episode,
the doctor asked his patient, “What do you eat?” The young man
explained that “I only eat twice a day…but I snack a lot, and I can’t
seem to get by without potatoes – especially potato chips.” The doctor
asked this patient what he thought would happen to him if he stopped
eating the chips. “I would probably lose weight,” he replied.
The
young man really didn’t want to do this. He told the doctor that he
was an emotional eater…that he didn’t eat because he was hungry, but
because he was trying to feed inner conflicts. This is a common
behavior…and the doctor pointed out that if the young man continued to
feed his feelings after surgery, he still would not lose weight.
This
doctor has a reputation for helping morbidly obese people get their
lives back on track…and this young man had a healthy “fear” (respect)
for the doctor’s opinion. He was able to receive psychological
counseling in tandem with the bypass surgery – and he lost almost 400
pounds. But for every “success story” on this program, there are
probably two or three stories of people who simply cannot stop eating
poorly and don’t keep the weight off long-term. In fact, there is a
“five-year mark” that is deemed the true measure of success. If the
patient can lose weight and maintain it for five years, there is a
decent chance that this weight loss will be permanent.
In so many
ways, we are the obese person who looks to God to help us lose our
“weight”…but we don’t want to give up the “chips.” We know that God can
fix us…that He can heal our bodies, minds and souls…that He can resolve
conflicts and set us on the right course in every area of our lives.
But we want Him to do this while we continue right on with our old
habits. We want to wring our hands over people and problems. We want
to eat whatever we choose and sit on our backsides. We want to gripe
and complain, gossip and disparage, and do as we please…and we want God to fix it all.
The
truth is…we can’t have it both ways. A lot of us are wise enough to
trust and “fear” God…but fewer of us have figured out that the real
victory comes in an understanding of how He works. And this means that
we must do our part and forsake evil in all of its forms.
So our
assignment for today is to take a good hard look at our lives and see
where we are allowing “evil” of some sort to control us. Where have we
not fully surrendered to God? Where have we given up on something or
someone instead of humbly trusting God to work in this situation? Where
have we thrown up our hands and said, “It’s no use!” – and “opened the
bag of chips and begun to eat?”
Look at the circumstances of
your life today, and make the necessary changes. Fear (respect) God and
walk in His wisdom – and grow in understanding of how He cares for you
and meets your every need. Surrender your will to God’s…and see how far
He will take you. Make this the day that you shed the weight of a life
not fully offered to God and discover the new “spring in your step”
that comes from letting Him have your burdens. This is the day to
“lighten our load!” I’m all in…are you?
©2015 Debbie Robus
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