My Belly's Conscience, Part II

It's come and it's gone..........January 1st, the day of the renewed vigor around-well, around anything you've decided to start, restart, quit, or improve.  It's been almost a month since I posted part 1 of "My Belly's Conscience," and a lot has happened since then.  Remember I said that the change from sedentary slothfulness was a conviction based on my reading the Word and discovering some things about God's desire for me.  You know, my body not being my own as I'm bought with a price, the at least temporal profit of bodily exercise, etc.  Well, as such, the changes I've made are about more than the awesome contest my brethren at HCR started for "the biggest loser."  They're actually around pleasing my Lord, and glorifying Him through this temple He graciously gave me.  It's that motivation that has me going to the gym, eating 6 healthy meals a day, and taking a multivitamin like clockwork.  I want to DO 1 Corinthians 10:31, which says Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do everything for the glory of God.  I used to look at areas of my life that I wasn't living up to this standard, and use them as excuses for other areas.  If I felt like I wasn't being all I could be for the Lord in the area of prayer, for instance, I would use that as a crutch to blow off fellowship.  I often reasoned, "I'll address my slothfulness once I've tackled my reading schedule."  This,  I've come to realize by God's grace, is the height of absurdity.  Growth in a Christian context is not a wholesale occurrence that happens at a single point in time.  Quite the contrary, as we walk with our Lord, He produces growth by His spirit from point to point, often revealing specific areas of growth He'd like to key on.  As we study His Word, fellowship, and pray, we are shown ourselves (and shortcomings) from various different angles, and by His grace, we seek to be shown.  As we're shown, we seek to address them as the effect of desiring to please God, and be of most use to Him and His Kingdom.  This is what happened to me.  I shared with you in part 1 that I had come to realize that I was a poor steward of the temple the Lord gave me.  I was convicted by the Holy Spirit to change that, and I wanted to update you and let you know what some of those changes are.

1. I go to the gym regularly now- The important piece here is that I go with the distinct feeling that I "must" go as if "compelled;" and I LIKE it.  That is far different from when I used to go and it was pure drudgery.  Every time I went, I knew it was potentially my last time there.

2. I eat 5-6 small, healthy meals per day- Again, this has become a joy for me to eat that way.  I went to a restaurant today with my family and I really, really, really HAD NO DESIRE to eat outside of the pattern.  Grilled chicken on a salad with lite Italian dressing, and water.  This is AMAZING!!! I can only attribute it to God's grace.  There is no way in the world that even 2 weeks ago I would've WILLINGLY made that choice.  Today, I can truly say I enjoy eating more responsibly.  Praise our Lord for that.  

3.  I drink no carbonated drinks- Again, all Praise due to my Lord for the ease of dropping those drinks.

4.  I read the nutrition facts on the backs of foods I'm about to consume- Praise God

This is just a quick-hit list of some of the changes that have been granted me so far.  I am convinced that there are more to come.  Some of you may be thinking, "but you just started, how can you be sure these are lasting changes?"  I would have to admit I completely understand that line of questioning, given the slew of New Year's Resolutions that have come and gone unkept.  I can only say that the Lord prompted this change through His Word, and His Spirit, and my motivation is Christ-centered.  It's really not about me losing x amount of weight or looking like this or that.  It's really a desire I have been given, thankfully, to really glorify God in my members, be a good example to my children, and be used of God in ways that would be difficult had I continued on my previous path.  My desire, is God's glory, and I'm persuaded that it's a desire He gave me.  For those reasons, I am confident in His ability to keep me in that which  I seek to use for Him and His Kingdom.

As a follow-up though, I do intend to in 6 months come back for part 3 of "My Belly's Conscience."

Pray for me till then.

Grace and Peace