Temptations

I've been thinking a lot about this lately and how funny that in church on Sunday the sermon was about temptation. Now, keep in mind they were talking about Jesus being tempted by Satan in the desert.. But it applies to our lives now too! One of the points of the message was:

We are often tempted when we are mst vulnerable. Don't you always find that to be true? When things are going great, it's easy to stay on track. I could be talking about anything here, but let me apply it to diet. As soon as things start to go the wrong direction, so quickly we are apt to make excuses and fall into temptation. After all, why take the hard road when you can take the easy one, right?
Wrong, quite often the easy road is not the road you want to take. I think about how hard I have worked to get stronger and lose weight and eat right. My hard work has paid off. I can see the results, but what makes the smallest of victories even sweeter is the fact that I've earned it through hard work. The early mornings getting up day after day to exercise, the number of temptations that I have had to resist when dangled in my face, the time I spent planning meals, the everything that I have given to my trainer during a PT session, all the sweat, all the tears. It all makes the prize even sweeter because I have had to work for it. I had to earn it. I still am working for it and earning it because my ultimate goal still is I. The distance. The easy way would have been to take a quick fix "pill", maybe get surgery, or try the newest diet fad...but would it have been as rewarding and lasting? Defintely not!

Another point of the matter is, we are usually tempted after a mountaintop experience. You see, Satan does not want us to be happy so this is when he picks up on our weaknesses and uses it to his advantage. God has provided to us everything we need, we just need to realize that. If I am applying this to my health, let me out it this way.. God formed me in the womb before my parents even knew about me. He created my body as a temple to him and over the years, and the temptations, I have not always been the best steward of this perfect way he created me. I look at that a lot more now as I eat healthier and exercise and get stronger. Anything that comes before God is to right. Giving into constant cravings for food and drink, and getting lazy.. That's all out before God. I want to live my life in a way that the Father would be proud of me. I'm not saying I don't enjoy the yummy things that he has given to us, because God has never created something that is not good for us. It is what we do with it and the excessive, addictive behaviors that get us not trouble. Everything in moderation. There is a reason they say that.

So, that's what has been on my mind. Jesus, help me to stay focused with my goals, my dreams and help me resist the temptations I do not need. In your name I pray, Amen.

:)