It’s a brand new year, with brand new resolutions. I decided to start working out again and when I went to the gym this past week I realized that everyone else in my town had made that same decision! Some how a new year brings about a freshness that causes people to want change things in their lives. Its an opportunity to start over and correct some things that might have not worked out so well in the year before. For many of us our weight is on that list. You might have said to yourself, “this is going to be the year I lose this weight!”. Before you start a brand new diet program or workout plan, I want to share few quick thoughts with you about trying out God’s weight loss plan!
There aren’t many places in the bible that speak about testing God in a positive light, but Malachi 3 is one of them. In the whole book of Malachi is God speaking pretty bluntly to the nation of Israel about why their relationship with Him is so poor. In so many words, because they refuse to give God the glory He is due and live in obedience to His Word, they are not receiving His blessings and favor. Specifically in chapter 3, God says that by not tithing the Israelites are robbing God! Now, don’t worry this isn’t a post about tithing, but I still think the underlying principle from those verses is applicable to our situation.
Malachi 3: 10 says, “Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, so that there may be food in my house, and test Me now in this…if I will not open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you a blessing until it overflows.” (NASB)
Sometimes people don’t tithe because they feel as if they give to the Lord they won’t have enough to provide for their own needs. Instead of trusting the Lord for provision they trust in their own abilities and resources. In Matthew 6: 25-32 Jesus talks about how God will provide for our every need. If God provides for the flowers, and the trees what is necessary for their sustenance, how much more will He provide for His beloved Children! In Malachi God is asking the Israelties to test this promise. Out of what they lacked He wants them to tithe and thereby test His divine ability to provide for and exceedingly bless them.
In the same way that God was asking the Israelites to trust him in the Old Testament, He is asking you and I to trust Him in this new year. He wants us to trust that if we live in obedience to His word then we will see Him provide for us. We will be able see some of the promises He has made to those who obey him come true. In John 10:10 Jesus says, ” The thief comes to steal, kill, and destroy, but I come that you might have life, and have it abundantly”. God’s promise to us is abundant life, both here on earth and in heaven. That abundant life includes being free from the emotional and physical consequences of our weight issues. It means no more negative body image thoughts and the deterioration of certain weight related physical ailments. It means the freedom to enjoy food without restriction and most of all to grow in a deeper more intimate relationship with God. All we have to do to receive it is to trust and obey Him.
Before you buy that expensive workout equipment or start a new restrictive diet plan, try God. Before you pay someone to help you lose weight, try God.Before you do anything this year to lose the weight, try God!
In this new year live life God’s way and see if He will make good on his promises. Just take two weeks and live in full obedience to his Word. Eat only what your body needs by eating when you’re hungry and stopping when you’re full. Be real about your issues with food and find a healthy way to deal with them. Spend time being honest with God and seek His power to help you exhibit self-control on a daily basis. If after the two weeks of giving it 100% you haven’t lost any weight than feel free to move on to that diet or workout plan you were going to do.
What have you got to lose? Or better yet, what have you got to gain?!
Think about it…
