Excuses, Rationalizations, Truth

EXCUSES, RATIONALIZATIONS, TRUTH

"So whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God." 1 Corinthians 10:31 (NIV)

We are the masters of excuses and rationalizations. Well that is not really a fair statement. I have just judged you in order to make ME feel better. I am good at making excuses and rationalizing.

I have been doing it most of my life in the area of my weight. I have shared with you before that I have been on every diet imaginable from Weight Watchers to the Atkins. It has been a battle for all of my life.

The problem is I have tried to lose weight for all the wrong reasons. I can tell myself that I want to lose weight because of my horrible family history -- heart attacks, cancer, diabetes -- all really good reasons to get trim and slim. The medical evidence is all there -- it will make a big (no pun there ...) difference in my life by shedding the extra pounds.

I can tell myself that if I lose the weight it will make me look better. I look at pictures of what I looked like 65 lbs ago, and I am embarrassed to see how large I was. 65lbs lighter made me look better. And who at 54 wouldn't want to look better? Except that God isn't so much interested on what is going on on the outside as he is on what is going on in the inside. And take all the rationalizations away -- losing weight for this reason is the idol of pride.

The real reason for me to eat right and exercise has nothing to do with all the reasons "the world" tells me why I should lose weight. Strip away the excuses and rationalizations, the bottom line is that I need eat right for the "glory of God." That is the ultimate reason why I need and want to do this.

One of my friends yesterday said, "I don't want to pray about my weight because I am afraid of what He will make me do!" I have thought about that statement and I understand it. But I don't think He will make me lose weight or eat right. He could, and sometimes he does take drastic measures to get us to do the right things. But I think that what he really desires from me, is to finally surrender and live in the victory that has already been secured for me through Christ. In other words, it may be more simple than I think -- just do it -- but do it for the right reason.

Just maybe the reason for the ups and downs of success and failure has been that I was always doing it for the wrong reasons. Just maybe the REAL freedom comes in doing it for the right reasons -- HIS GLORY not mine! It isn't about me -- it's all about Him. -- Bill Welte is President and CEO of America's KESWICK

God's WORD for YOU: Proverbs 28; Jeremiah 15-17; 2 Timothy 2

Think about this: Recognize to whom you owe the fact that you exist, that you breathe, that you understand, that you are wise, and, above all, that you know God and hope for the kingdom of heaven. You have been made a son of God,
co-heir with Christ. Where did you get all this, and from whom?.... What benefactor has enabled you to look out upon the beauty of the sky, the sun in its course, the circle of the moon, the countless number of stars, with the harmony and order that are theirs, like the music of a harp? Who has blessed you with rain, with the art of husbandry, with
different kinds of food, with the arts, with houses, with laws, with states, with a life of humanity and culture, with friendship and the easy familiarity of kinship? ... Is it not God who asks you now in your turn to show yourself generous ... Because we have received from him so many wonderful gifts, will we not be ashamed to refuse him this one
thing only, our generosity? -- Gregory Nazianzen

Check out this week's STEWARDSHIP INSIGHT FROM GEORGE http://keswickgeorge.blogspot.com/ It's a good one!