#40by40challenge

#40by40challenge

I haven't started
That 40 by 40..thing

Are the promises made to self the easiest to break?

I glanced over an interesting facebook re-post today about a young man who was on a spiritual journey and a physical battle; that battle of the bulge! He linked the two. He said the more spiritually sound he got, the easier it was for him to recognize that his craving for food was related to a fight from the enemy and one of those seven deadly sins - gluttony!

I went to a Catholic primary school, they separated the Catholic and Episcopal children at lunchtime and for a few minutes, they taught us Catholic things! I was one of those children. We were mostly upset that we had to end our play time early to listen to things we had no interest in, but at the same time, the room was cool and we got to feel 'special' having been chosen  to..well..learn how to say the Rosary. I remember learning specifically about the Seven Deadly Sins....I suppose this is where I got the notion that sins had an hierarchy; for if these seven were singled out, they had to be worse than bad..right?

Gluttony was one of them...in Jamaica,we just say....craven. You eat too much...yuh too craven. It is a sin too eat too much, to want too much, too crave too much- of anything! It's funny though because so many of life's most precious moments have food at the center of them; I can't think of one place that we go to that doesn't have food. It is hard to navigate around food. Alcoholics can avoid bars, and can empty their homes of liquor but you would be hard pressed to avoid food- unless you want to go in the other direction entirely-anorexia!

I haven't started that 40 by 40 thing yet.
The promises I make to myself are the easiest to break.

I was sure I was ready, I put it out in cyberspace ready,but so was the enemy but delay masquerades as denial- I know it all too well. I refuse to be tricked yet again. So it was interesting that I glanced at an article talking about how the enemy can use food against us, how he can use the pleasures of our taste buds, the very makeup of our senses to work against us and trap us in layers of obesity and that deadly sin....gluttony. Yes, it's not just that you lack self control and that will- it is that you are fighting a battle, a war, that seeks to shorten your very existence through lifestyle diseases.

I watched in horror some time last year a program on TLC called 'My 600 lb life'. I watched with eyes and mouth wide open. I was in disbelief. The persons on the show were wading in a sea of defeat, as obesity had over taken their lives. Is it their fault? Do people put a gun to their head and make them eat unhealthily? The answers to those questions will be different depending on which side of the scale you weigh up on. I understood their defeat and their pain.  I understood trying to come back from a place where you think you are so far gone that it makes no sense. I understood an enemy that says...change is not possible..for you. You. will. die.here.

Ephesians 6:12 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of  the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.

I haven't started that 40 by 40 thing yet
The promises I make to myself are easiest to break..on my own

On a Friday night, I'd much rather be unwinding from a hard week, and watching some TV, but I write, I made a promise to God. If it were just for me, well...yeah..I'd be watching TV. Promises to God are easier to keep. I feel like the stakes are higher. Last year, I also did something else...I went 21 days..without food. I only drank coconut water, water and apple juice. It wasn't a hunger strike. I fasted. I prayed. It wasn't about food but my attitude towards food changed. I realized that we give so much importance to food. It's as if we are addicted to food. A kind of a Lusting if you will. LUST - another of the seven deadly sins.

On my fasting journey, it became all too clear that all things are indeed possible- through Christ who strengthens me. I realized that we do 'choose' what we put in our bodies, but I also came to know that anything that is a stronghold in our lives, anything that we struggle with in our lives NEED the power of Christ to be defeated. That includes food. It isn't just will power. It isn't just being craven. And this isn't a cop out!

I haven't started that 40 by 40 thing...but I am going to...
The promises I make to myself are easiest to break...because I don't see me like Jesus does.

There are a few things not mentioned specifically in the Bible, food, is not one of them. It's mentioned, a lot. In fact, I started thinking about that very first 'fruit'. That forbidden fruit that we were not to eat lest we surely die, and while many say it was not a literal fruit, but a metaphor, either way..food was used and I think that is important somehow. God doesn't deal in coincidences, he's much too methodical for that. Satan, beguiles the woman to 'eat the fruit' and we have been suffering for it ever since. So he beguiles us to 'eat' as much and as often as we like, for we shall not surely die...at first. Eventually though, all that freedom starts to take a toll on our physical bodies and we just might 'die' literally because of it. I also don't think there would be so many chapters dedicated to the types of food that are good for us to eat, if the God that created us, who knows just how our systems work didn't deem it important. He knew what was good for us to eat. He knew. No, I am not an Adventist, and I am not plugging their message or practice of eating. I am just thinking there is merit in the pages of Leviticus. I am also aware of the debate that New Testament writings offer, I will not debate that, the truth is simple, if we eat more from plants and less of what is made in plants, we will be healthier and come up hopefully a lot less on the scale.

I haven't started that 40 by 40 thing, but I will.
The promises I make to myself should be kept, because I am a temple. I house precious cargo.

I'm glad Easter is early this year. I'm glad 40 days of Lent starts in February. I'm glad 40 by 40 was put out there and I'm even more excited that 40's are all in a row. I'm going to do a 40 day fast for Lent.

I'm not making any promises...but I want to Chronicle my 40 days on my journey to 40. I invite you to join me. Journeys are always better with friends.


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