So, a friend told you about the Fit For Life Forever 'Stop Dieting ~ Start Living' course. You were curious to know more and somehow got a copy of the book. As you read, a little sceptical at first, you kept thinking,'Why, that's me!' - at last someone seemed to understand the constant battle with food and eating you had experienced and its impact on your spiritual life. But more amazingly, it offered hope, a way out of the endless cycle of dieting followed by weight gain, of hope followed by disappointment, of success followed by the inevitable failure. Yes, there was a way, a Biblical way, of regulating our weight and keeping it off - for ever!! No more dieting, no more counting calories, no more food restrictions! Yippee!!

Your initial steps in implementing the teaching of the book or (better still) following the course will have varied considerably one person to another. Perhaps you took to it like a duck to water and effortlessly (well almost!) lost weight. But more likely you came to realise that there was a lot going on under the surface and that this wasn't going to be a quick fix. There was more to mend than just your weight;; there was a lifetime of inappropraite and unhelpful thought patterns and a whole plethors of emotions ranging from low-self-esteem and unresolved pain to fear, loneliness and boredom. 

God's best way for his children to sort out their eating behaviour is to rely on the Holy Spirit, not man-made diets and when we initially see this it really is a revelation - one of those 'WOW!' moments when a light is sweitched on in our heads and it all seems to make sense. We embrace the freedom gladly and vow never to resort to dieting again. 

But walking the walk isn't easy, not even for me! Like the 'foolish Galatians' Paul wrote to, having begun in the Spirit we can easily resort back to the flesh and if we take our eyes off the ball, even for a few days, we can see the pounds beginning to creep back on. Listen! Our flesh nature hates the discipline of keeping a check on how much food our body needs as opposed to what it wants; it doesn't automatically choose the healthy option over the unhealthy (not on a regular basis anyway) The flesh is by nature lazy - it doesn't readily embrace exercise and is keen to agree with any argument as why today isn't a good time to make the extra effort. I've found this with my cycling to work. If it isn't the weather (too hot, too cold, too wet...) then it's because I need to call somewhere after work and need the car or I'm carrying a lot of cash and might get mugged! 

Freedom, I have found, comes at a price and, at the risk of seeming to be banging the same drum, that price is moment by moment submission to the Holy Spirit and obedience to His leading, even in the minuitia of how much food passes our lips. I can't claim to walk this walk 100% of the time. There are still 'blah' days when my default behaviour of prowling round the kitchen seeing what I can devour gains the upper hand. But I have learnt that failure isn't final, that just because we mess up one day doesn't mean that all is lost. 

I sometimes play snakles and ladders with my grandchildren and you will, I am sure, be able to picture the board where a huge snake grins menacingly about three squares from home. One of us can be winning by miles but then land on that pesky snake and slide haplessly back to the bottom row. It's easy, then to forget about the ladders and think the game's over. But in no time at all the picture can look completely different again. We can still win! 

We have a certain snake in all our lives, he's called Satan, and he takes huge delight in knocking us off the board especially when we get over-confident and smug. Perhaps as you read this, you have just slid down a huge snake and feel as though you are back to square one. Well, please don't give up. Look up, there is a ladder which leads into the heavenlies and it is called prayer. As you call on the Name of the Lord he will lift you up again. He will strengthen you and give you His grace to carry on. Your hope is not in vain. You are destined to win and don't you ever forget it!