Friday, April 27, 2012

The Law or the Spirit?

When it comes to talk of weight-loss/diet I can hear the groans.  You are all thinking about rice cakes, celery sticks, and counting calories.  It might comfort you to know that I am not a fan of counting calories, or it might make you uncomfortable to know that I am a BIG fan of counting calories.  Yes I know, I now have you lost. . . but one has to be “lost” before than can truly say they are “found”!

I always say that the physical and spiritual parallel.  So in talking about weight loss and calorie counting I would like to parallel Law verses Spirit.  Let’s look at the Word.

Deut 15: 10 if you obey the voice of the Lord your God, to keep His commandments and His statutes which are written in this Book of the Law, and if you turn to the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul. 11 "For this commandment which I command you today is not too mysterious for you, nor is it far off. 12 It is not in heaven, that you should say, 'Who will ascend into heaven for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?' 13 Nor is it beyond the sea, that you should say, 'Who will go over the sea for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?' 14 But the word is very near you, in your mouth and in your heart, that you may do it. 15 "See, I have set before you today life and good, death and evil, 16 in that I command you today to love the Lord your God, to walk in His ways, and to keep His commandments, His statutes, and His judgments, that you may live and multiply; and the Lord your God will bless you in the land which you go to possess.

So that verse talks a lot about “laws” and “commandments”.  If you obey God’s commandments you will have life.  So obedience equals life and disobedience equals death.

Take that to the “diet” world.  If a client says they “can’t” lose weight, more than likely they are not following the “letter of the law” when it comes to weight loss 101.  COUNT CALORIES!  If you are consuming more calories than you burn up, you will not lose weight.  If you consume less calories than you can burn per day you will lose weight.  The “Law” of calorie counting and weight loss does not change.

Take that back to the spiritual world.  God’s law does not change.  If we obey what He says to do, we will obtain life.  If we don’t, we obtain death.  (Please understand this is not about salvation, this is about what we reap in THIS LIFE). God gave us His commandments to help us live out the best possible life here on earth.  When we follow the Owner’s manual then our life operates as it should.

So is life just a bunch of rule keeping? NO WAY!  I no longer have to count calories or check the rule book of health to tell me if a donut is good for me or not.  Why?  Because now the law of health is written on my heart.  It is life to me.  It is what I want to do.  I know how much food and what kind of food brings me life because I have passion for health.  The health laws moved from stone and into my heart.  God’s commandments for life are just that.  They are all meant to improve our life.  Now God has moved them from tablets of stone, to tablets of flesh.

Jeremiah 31:33 But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.

The diet laws have not changed over the years. . .calories in. . .calories out.  But somewhere in time what was the letter of the law in my life, became the spirit of the law.  I do not eat healthy because I have to; I eat healthy because I get to.  Somewhere in time God’s laws moved from stone tablets to being inscribed in my heart.  How do you view God’s commandments?  Are you “under the Law” or. . . .

Psalm 40:8 I delight to do Your will, O my God, And Your law is within my heart."

His Law does not change. . .how do you view it?




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