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Past Thought for the week messages Temptations, temptations, temptations
Past Thought for the week messages Temptations, temptations, temptations | Temptations, temptations, temptations |
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It’s that time of year again! You may already be experiencing the guilt-ridden aftermath of office parties, surrounded by booze and not-too-healthy finger food; that LBD (little black dress for the uninitiated) is already tighter than you would wish, and your larder is becoming steadily stocked with an extravaganza of must-have Christmas goodies which you promise yourself are NOT for personal consumption, only for friends and family. Yeah, right! Then there are the prezzies. You won’t open them until Christmas Day, of course, but the size, weight and rattle of some of those boxes can only mean one thing… chocolates. Your thoughts flash back to last year – the huge tin of Quality Street where you simply had to eat all the purple ones before someone else did; the After Dinner Mints which, by their very name, sanctioned regular consumption every time you pushed yourself away from the table. And then, when it was all over, and you resolved to go on yet another diet, there were all those yet unopened boxes of chocolates which you knew would present far too much temptation. The simple answer to this dilemma was, of course, to eat them all up immediately so that they were out of the way! Dumb, isn’t it, yet we repeat this same behaviour over and over again. You may or may not have already embarked upon the Fit For Life course, but wherever you are on your journey, Christmas is a temptation for us all – yes, even for ME! It isn’t the chocolates that get me, particularly, but when I am offered with some attractively-presented food which I wouldn’t normally eat, I don’t want to miss out! I got treated to a slap-up Italian meal the other day. I hardly ate all day in readiness and at the start of the meal I did refuse the bread (feeling, in truth, really virtuous about that) I also only drank iced water, so no hidden calories there, but after appetizer, pasta, entrée and salad I got offered not one, but two desserts! Tiramisu and crème brulee. Did I need them? No. Did I eat them –Yes! (half portions of each) And afterwards I felt so uncomfortable that it just wasn’t worth it. It’s a long time since I’ve eaten so much and I have vowed now to be extra diligent over Christmas not to let it happen again. On reflection there were a couple of other things I could have done: I didn’t need the pasta course and should have left it out and I could have taken a smaller portion of everything. If I was still full when it came to dessert I should have simply made the sacrifice and said NO. Well, at least you know that I, too, am still on my journey. When we ‘fail’ it humbles us and causes us to lean ever harder upon the Lord, who alone can help us to resist temptation and eat in a way that will truly honour Him as Lord of our bodily temples. We will all be tempted, not once but several times, to overeat this Christmas. God wants us to enjoy our celebration and unless there are medical reasons we have no need to deprive ourselves of any treats. Here are a few tips which I intend to apply to my own eating over the festive season. I share them in the hopes that they may help you also. 1) Step up on the prayer. Really commit you appetite to God and ask Him to help you regulate your eating so that ‘whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, you do it for the glory of God’. 2) Pace your eating throughout the day so that if there is a big occasion you are ready to eat. 3) See if you can’t find out what is on the entire menu so that you can prioritise what you want to eat and what, if need be, you can omit. 4) Stick to smaller portions and avoid seconds. 5) Eat slowly – you don’t want to watch others eating, do you?! 6) Take exercise between meals - a walk round the block rather than dropping listless in front of the TV. 7) Go easy on the alcohol, not only because of the hidden calories but also because it could make you less diligent in applying any of the above. At Christmas time we rejoice that the Saviour of the world has been made flesh and come to dwell among us. Since he, too, became man, he has been tempted in all points just as we are and He is able now to impart His grace to us as we reach out to Him in our time of need. How we need Him! See Him as the silent guest at your table this Christmas and may His presence fill you with joy and gratitude. Christmas blessings to you all! |
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