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Cal's Pastoral Epistles
"Help From Above"
September 29, 2010
My parents picked me up at the airport on Monday. They live in
Elizabethtown, Kentucky and I flew down to visit them for a couple of
days. It was lunchtime when I arrived so we went to the big buffet for
lunch. What could I say? I’m trying to lose weight but the $5.50 price tag
for all you can eat was tough to pass up. I tried to be good. I had a big
salad. I figured that would fill me up so I wouldn’t eat as much of the bad
stuff. It worked. I only went up two more times to fill my plate. I made
sure to have lots of spinach and green beans along with the turkey and
stuffing, mashed potatoes, buttered roll and fried chicken leg. The green
vegetables have fewer calories and no points. That means you can eat more.
On Tuesday night I took my parents out to dinner for their 39th wedding
anniversary. I had a nice piece of meatloaf, a baked potato, some green
beans and a small piece of cornbread. For the second day in a row I made
some good food choices so I could stay on the program. Except for the big
slab of butter on the baked potato, I did very well. We all cheat a little bit.
No one’s perfect.
This morning I got on the scale and my weight was up again. I started
beating myself up. I knew I shouldn’t have done it. The scale always makes
me feel guilty after a bad week. So what went wrong? I am acknowledging
all of the weight loss concepts. I make a note of them as I make my
choices. I just bend the rules a little bit here and there. The Weight Watcher
leaders always say that you have to adjust the program to your life style. Or
is it the other way around?
It’s funny how we get confused. The same thing happens with our faith.
It is so easy to twist things around to suit our purposes. We know what we
should and shouldn’t do but we make excuses. We look for loopholes. That’
s when the little devil pops up and says, “Did God really say that? He
couldn’t have meant that? You must have misunderstood.” Then we go
ahead and do whatever it is that we were going to do.
The apostle Paul confesses in his letter to the Romans that no matter
which way he turns he can’t seem to get it right. He wants to do right but
he can’t. He says it is as if there is a war going on inside of him. We know
what he is talking about because many of us fight that war every day. I do
it with my weight. Your battle may be with money, or alcohol or sexual
urges. The bad news is that the struggles will always be a part of our life.
The good news is that we don’t have to face them alone.
God has given us tools to fight the good fight. He has given us the
scriptures. King David called them a lamp for our feet because they show
us the way to go. They remind us that God has promised to be there for us.
God has given us a community of faith to draw strength from. The people
we worship with can be a tremendous encouragement in our struggles.
Many of them have been there and have been victorious. We can lean on
them and learn from their experience. God has also given us the Holy Spirit.
Think of the Holy Spirit as the little angel that sits on the other shoulder
reminding us of what God calls us to do. The Spirit gives us the power to
reject the temptations and do what is right.
I’ll be home by the time you read this and the first thing I’m going to do
is go back to Weight Watchers. If you’ve been struggling with the choices
in your life, I’d like to invite you to come home and reconnect with the
people of God. The strength, the tools, the people you need can be found
right there in your local church or synagogue. So what are you waiting for?
No more excuses. Make today the day you get back on track.
God Bless. See you in church. Cal.
September 29, 2010
My parents picked me up at the airport on Monday. They live in
Elizabethtown, Kentucky and I flew down to visit them for a couple of
days. It was lunchtime when I arrived so we went to the big buffet for
lunch. What could I say? I’m trying to lose weight but the $5.50 price tag
for all you can eat was tough to pass up. I tried to be good. I had a big
salad. I figured that would fill me up so I wouldn’t eat as much of the bad
stuff. It worked. I only went up two more times to fill my plate. I made
sure to have lots of spinach and green beans along with the turkey and
stuffing, mashed potatoes, buttered roll and fried chicken leg. The green
vegetables have fewer calories and no points. That means you can eat more.
On Tuesday night I took my parents out to dinner for their 39th wedding
anniversary. I had a nice piece of meatloaf, a baked potato, some green
beans and a small piece of cornbread. For the second day in a row I made
some good food choices so I could stay on the program. Except for the big
slab of butter on the baked potato, I did very well. We all cheat a little bit.
No one’s perfect.
This morning I got on the scale and my weight was up again. I started
beating myself up. I knew I shouldn’t have done it. The scale always makes
me feel guilty after a bad week. So what went wrong? I am acknowledging
all of the weight loss concepts. I make a note of them as I make my
choices. I just bend the rules a little bit here and there. The Weight Watcher
leaders always say that you have to adjust the program to your life style. Or
is it the other way around?
It’s funny how we get confused. The same thing happens with our faith.
It is so easy to twist things around to suit our purposes. We know what we
should and shouldn’t do but we make excuses. We look for loopholes. That’
s when the little devil pops up and says, “Did God really say that? He
couldn’t have meant that? You must have misunderstood.” Then we go
ahead and do whatever it is that we were going to do.
The apostle Paul confesses in his letter to the Romans that no matter
which way he turns he can’t seem to get it right. He wants to do right but
he can’t. He says it is as if there is a war going on inside of him. We know
what he is talking about because many of us fight that war every day. I do
it with my weight. Your battle may be with money, or alcohol or sexual
urges. The bad news is that the struggles will always be a part of our life.
The good news is that we don’t have to face them alone.
God has given us tools to fight the good fight. He has given us the
scriptures. King David called them a lamp for our feet because they show
us the way to go. They remind us that God has promised to be there for us.
God has given us a community of faith to draw strength from. The people
we worship with can be a tremendous encouragement in our struggles.
Many of them have been there and have been victorious. We can lean on
them and learn from their experience. God has also given us the Holy Spirit.
Think of the Holy Spirit as the little angel that sits on the other shoulder
reminding us of what God calls us to do. The Spirit gives us the power to
reject the temptations and do what is right.
I’ll be home by the time you read this and the first thing I’m going to do
is go back to Weight Watchers. If you’ve been struggling with the choices
in your life, I’d like to invite you to come home and reconnect with the
people of God. The strength, the tools, the people you need can be found
right there in your local church or synagogue. So what are you waiting for?
No more excuses. Make today the day you get back on track.
God Bless. See you in church. Cal.
Pastor Cal Lord writes these weekly epistles to
help us see God in every day things.
help us see God in every day things.
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