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Past Thought for the week messages Who's in charge?
Past Thought for the week messages Who's in charge? | Who's in charge? |
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In Matthew 8:5-10 we find the story of Jesus healing a centurian’s servant. Jesus was willing to go to the man’s home but the centurian said that was unnecessary, believing that if Jesus simply gave the word from a distance, the healing would happen. The reason the centurian gave for this was that, within the military structure, he was a man under authority so when he gave orders to one under him, they obeyed. He recognised that Jesus was under the authority of His Father, and that being the case, He had delegated authority to heal the sick by His word. So what has all this to do with controlling our eating behaviour, you might ask? Many of us have problems resisting temptation when it comes to food. We have good intentions, but so often we simply cave in to the demands of our fleshly appetite and then, of course, we feel so ashamed because of our failure and perhaps eat some more to help us to feel better! Unable to regulate our weight on our own, we then turn to Slimming Clubs and all manner of diets, to help us sort out the mess. We are presented with a list of dietary rules, which (if we abide by them) we trust will bring about the desired results. We resent being told what we can and can’t eat, or how much we can have, or how often, but we grit our teeth and begrudgingly try to follow the regime. It works for a while but the sense of deprivation grows and grows, and in the end we usually cave in big time and over-indulge on all the foods we have so carefully avoided! I believe that such ‘rebellion’ is natural, for God never intended for us, as adults, to abdicate our own control over the food choices we make. But we do need help!! So what is God’s way? He wants us to bring our appetite under the control of the Holy Spirit; to make Jesus the Lord of our relationship with food. Once we do that, then (like the Centurian) we have delegated authority over our flesh nature. We can speak to our appetite in Jesus’ Name, commanding it to bow to the higher authority of the Word of God. This is the secret of an overcoming life. So I want to challenge you now. Have you ever specifically made Jesus the Lord of your relationship with food? If not, do so now. Covenant with God that it is your desire and intention to bring all your food choices to Him; that He will henceforth have the sovereign right to say no when you reach for food which your body does not need or which would do you harm. He isn’t a kill-joy, and there will be times when it is okay to eat ‘just for fun’ but other times you may sense a still small voice of restraint when you don’t really understand why. Don’t get obsessive over this, but eat in freedom, all the while, giving God the right to interrupt your thoughts and intended behaviour if He wants to. As you follow this path of submission there will be times when you find the pull of food stronger than others. This may be due to things going on in your emotions – stress, inner pain or emptiness, loneliness etc, and when this happens you should take it to God, asking him to show you the root cause and to heal you in that area. This takes time so don’t whip yourself if you don’t get a grip on your eating behaviour straight away. Just know that since Jesus is Lord of your eating, He is working in you to will and to do of His good pleasure. His grace – not your efforts – is going to effect the changes. So don’t dwell on your failures. God sees your heart; He knows your helplessness, and He is on your case!
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