Vacation Food and the Spiritual Journey!

I just recently went on vacation.  And with vacation comes some additional splurges.  My wife and I have been on a health journey for the last couple of years and this has required a certain diet that we go by when we eat. It’s nothing restrictive in the sense that we can’t eat certain foods, but it is restrictive on the amount of food we can intake in a week.  

I’m on a calorie deficit.  I allow myself to only eat a certain amount of calories a week so that I can lose fat.  God has opened my eyes through this journey and I have realized so much about him, myself, and the world.  Check out THIS BLOG and learn a little more about that journey!

I tell you this because on vacation, I decided I would do a little experiment.  I decided to eat whatever I wanted and as much as I wanted.  Now, I wasn’t going to be gluttenous.  I didn’t want to  eat so much that I would make myself sick.  But foods that I normally wouldn’t eat, or would eat them in very small amounts, I decided I would just…indulge.  

Let me tell you, this is no easy task. I am so used to eating a certain way that my mind is trained in that perspective. Have you seen The Terminator? There is a scene when Arnold goes into a bar and you see through his perspective.  He analyzes and reads different power sessions of objects around him. That is how my vision is on food items and their caloric density. I think “This little amount of food is not worth all those calories!” But I did it. I just let myself eat the food.  And it was glorious! Hahaha!  

I ate pasta, pizza, fried chicken, mozzarella sticks, regular bread, and more!  I did add in “healthy” options such as baked and grilled fish, steak, and chicken, but I did not neglect the biscuits, cookies, cakes, and donuts! It was very tasty!  And as you can imagine I did gain a few pounds that week.  But when I went back to doing what I know to do, I went back to where I was. I shed the weight again. 

This is like our relationship with God.  Now, I went and ate on purpose so the metaphor doesn’t hold completely. But, when we fall off the saddle.  when we walk the path of sin, when we slip into old natures, when we backslide into our depravity, there is always still redemption.  God is ready and waiting to lift us up out of the mire and into his embrace.  We know this! Just like I knew how to eat and exercise because I had been practicing for years, we know what it is to keep our eyes focused on the savior (spoiler alert, prayer, scripture reading, and community in the church).  So don’t let sin and struggles keep you from living in wonderful fellowship with the savior.  Find life in him by doing what you know and spending that time with the savior.

Another connection to this metaphor to me is the relationship I have with food.  Now I notice or at least acknowledge the caloric density of every food I see.  This is what it is with sin in our walk with Christ.  The closer we align ourselves with the will of Jesus, we recognize our own sin even more.  We see how sin corrupts and destroys.  We acknowledge that we have failings and give grace to those around us who we see failing.  We are more God centered and less self focused. This is the sanctifying process. This is what Holy Spirit does. We are being transformed to the image of Christ.

Notice these things!  It is wonderful to see God moving and changing in us.  I know that sometimes it seems we are further from the image of Christ than we ever were, but that's because God has given us a better vision of him and ourselves.  He gave us stronger prescription glasses for sin. 

What can we learn from this? I think the two ideas relate to each other.  When you find yourself broken over your sin remember that is because God is calling you closer to him.  And then remember that you know how to strengthen your stride, so draw nearer to him.  

Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Romans 12:1

Let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. Hebrews 12:1-2

Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come near to God and he will come near to you. James 4:7-8