My job is on hold this week, thanks to SPRING BREAK. Did I hear you say Praise Jesus!? That is exactly how I feel. I spent my first day of break sleeping in, lesson planning, catching up on some reading, getting a manicure, buying paint, working out, walking the dog, making dinner, and spending time with my husband and a friend. The weather was perfect. I couldn't ask for anything more.
Along with my reading, I caught up with Made to Crave today. Here it is:
Day 16: The "G" word
“As the deer pants for steams of water, so my soul thirsts for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When can I go and meet with God?” (Psalm 42:1–2)
Lysa says, "Have you ever heard a sermon about your eating habits? I doubt it. Excessive drinking, yes. Excessive eating, never. At least I hadn’t until a historic church-going day when the preacher man pulled out the big “G” word: gluttony. I rolled my eyes, as you have just done, and thought, “How dare you say to me that eating is a sinful desire?” But his point was brilliant and I took it to heart. How can we stand and wag our fingers in the direction of alcohol only to walk into the church-wide, covered-dish buffet and stuff ourselves sick with fried, covered-and-smothered, grossly caloric delights that buckle our paper plates and cause our stomachs to cry for antacids?" This is so true!
"I want you to hear me. I’m not saying that eating is a sinful desire. What I am saying is, if you have a script like this (“I’m fat, I’m ugly, and I’m not capable of getting it together”) playing in your mind, then something is waging war against your soul.
First Peter 2:11 reminds us, “Dear friends, I urge you as aliens and strangers in the world to abstain from sinful desires which wage war against your soul.” In other words, if something is waging war against your soul, it is a sinful desire. Now please hear me again. Eating in and of itself is not a sinful desire. God made us to consume food, but food was never supposed to consume us. And if food starts consuming us to the point where we cannot feel empowered, then that is a problem."
When we rely on food for satisfaction, just like relying on anything else to fill us, we are always left wanting more. For instance, Josh made a delicious Paula Deen Sheet Cake yesterday. Did I need this? No. (YESS!!!) Did I have more than I needed...maybe? I had plenty. I was physically full, but my desire was not fulfilled. No cake, no matter how wonderful it is will ever fill me up the way than God does. When we attempt to fill ourselves up with things other than God, then we are left feeling emptier than before.
"Our souls have the same ravenous intensity as a vacuum cleaner; that’s how God created us—with a longing to be filled. It is a longing God instilled to draw us into deep intimacy with Him. The psalmist expresses this longing as an intense thirst:
As the deer pants for steams of water, so my soul thirsts for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When can I go and meet with God?
Indeed, our souls are thirsty and ravenous vacuums. If we fail to fill our souls with spiritual nourishment, we will forever be triggered to numb our longings with other temporary physical pleasures that will never satisfy."
Sometimes I know that I let my crazy-busy life get the most of my time with God. There is so many other things to do, but I know that each day I must make spending time with him a priority so that I can be full by the only One who can fill me up.
Riley enjoying his last moments in Seymour.
Home Sweet Home
Ry at Home
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