It Begins in Earnest

Tomorrow my diet begins in earnest. How many times have I said that? My wife would argue I’ve said in at least two thousand times in our 17 years of marriage. I would hope it is only a few hundred times. The point, however, is simple: Something must change in my life. I eat way too much food, exercise much too little, and seemingly gain weight faster than most people brush their teeth. It is time to get serious about my physical health.
I have read every diet book out there. I have researched the diets and can tell you the difference between a carbohydrate, complex sugar, protein, and fat. I can explain to you the premise behind most of the “in” diets and can argue the pros and cons of each. I have done research about what vitamins I need and what pills I should avoid. I know where to find the best recipes and belong to a couple of the internet diet groups. The problem is I have lost a total of zero pounds. Even though I can tell you all about diets and loosing weight, until I begin to put into practice what I have learned, I will loose no weight. All the knowledge in the world will have no direct benefit to me until I practice what I learn.
I have realized how much my spiritual life is like a diet. Loosing weight means I must take out some things in my life (fats, sugars, calories etc.) and put some things into my life (exercise, fiber, fruits, vegetables etc). Loosing weight takes effort. Likewise, living a life of holiness means I must take some things out of my life (busyness, legalism, bitterness, etc) and replace it with something good (spiritual disciplines.). Holiness takes effort. Do I really want to loose weight? Do I really want to shed a few pounds in order to take pressure off my heart and body? Then I must have a complete lifestyle change. Do I want to live a holy life of dependence and obedience to my Lord? Do I want to get rid of my flesh that so easily entangles me to live a life worthy of my calling? Then I must have a complete lifestyle change.
I do understand that in our position before God we are holy. I am not speaking of our position before God. Instead, I am speaking of the practice of holiness. If we were honest, far too many Christians do not practice holiness. It is the practice of holiness which takes effort. Paul tells Timothy to “train yourself to be godly” (1 Timothy 4:7). The word “train” is the Greek word gumnazo. It is the word we get our English word gymnasium from. It means to exercise or to train. It implies the idea of effort. In fact, the word means to exercise naked. As I thought about that word, I realized it means we must lay ourselves bare to God. We must strip ourselves of everything that entangles us from being the person God has created us to be. We must be willing to do anything to “work out our salvation with fear and trembling” (Phil 2:12).
Over the coming months, we are going to lay ourselves bare to our Lord. We are going to make an effort to practice holiness. To accomplish our goals, we are going to examine the spiritual disciplines and begin practicing them in our lives. Three of my favorite authors on the subject are Dallas Willard, Richard Foster, and Donald Whitney. I would encourage you to get their works on this subject. I think Richard Foster’s Celebration of Discipline is the best work out their on the subject of spiritual disciplines.
I have made a commitment to God and myself to take a more serious look at my physical and spiritual bodies. They are both important to Him. As I write, I will let you know how my struggle in the physical world is going and also lead us down a road of spiritual health. I encourage you to take the trip with me. Let me know how you are doing. I would love to be praying for you on this incredible journey.