Skip to main content

Reaching for a goal in slimming or otherwise.





Recently I decided to lose some weight.  I had a little health scare that turned out to be nothing, but by then it had given me the impetus to lose weight.  I set myself some targets to tick off on the way.  I had books from a well known slimming group from a previous time when I had slimmed with them.  I decided I would do it alone as long as I was succeeding.  After all why pay out good money for something I was confident I could do on my own. Since February I have lost a stone.  That’s fourteen pounds to my American friends. I’ve plateau-ed a bit now but I’m getting through that.  I’m keeping a diary of what I eat and comparing it with my daily weight.  Yes, I know they tell you to weigh once a week, but I find it helpful to keep a close eye on things and it doesn’t discourage me because I can usually see a reason for any ups and downs in weight. 

  So how much value do I put on physical well-being within the picture of my spiritual life? I haven’t suddenly turned into someone who must be ultra-slim and ultra-fit.  However it makes sense to look after the bodies God has given us.  If we are fit enough to go out and about and meet other people we are more likely to be a witness to them of the Christian life and our Saviour. If we can set ourselves goals for our bodies maybe we can set some for our spiritual lives.  However just as there are fad diets that get you nowhere there is a lot of phoney advice on how to improve your spiritual lives.  One of these is the Read the Bible in a year scheme.  It sounds like a good idea and can certainly make you feel super spiritual, but the amount you need to read each day practically inhibits you from really taking in the message of each passage;  far better to read the Bible at a slower pace and take it in and by all means work through the whole Bible. If you like make an attempt at the Bible in a year but don’t be despondent if you can’t keep it going; you are not alone. There are no brownie points in heaven for me losing weight and that is the same for the Bible reading scheme. We are saved by faith alone in Christ alone and not by how many hoops we can jump through that our Pastor produces for us.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Why do many disasters happen?

I have written in previous posts about disasters. In the case of Concorde, decisions by people, plus other factors were directly to blame for the event.  In the case of the Penlee disaster it may have been avoided if someone had made a better choice in the time beforehand and as a consequence brave men and the ship's crew and the captain and his family died. 9/11 was certainly the result of wicked men committing a terrorist act, but even in this there was heroism notably by another Cornish man, Rick Rescorla who helped many to safety and left it too late to help himself.  In situations like this we see what the human spirit is capable of both good and evil. What of disasters that come on people because of the earth restless movement of tectonic plates.  Often people live near volcanoes because the land is rich and fertile and they have the chance of a better life there when the volcano is resting.  We cannot blame them for that but sometimes people become complacent...
Post a Comment
Read more

Optimism conquering experience

I watched The Detectorists tonight. I have not watched it before. It is about a group of people who use detecting equipment to discover old coins and other things of archeological interest. This was the last in the series and had a bitter sweet feel to it.  One of the main characters asked,"Why do we do it?" and the other replied,"This is the nearest you will ever get to time travel." You have to be an optimist to do metal detecting.  There is always the attraction of making a big find or an important discovery.  Among all the tin cans and coat hangers found there is the hope of a Saxon hoard, or Roman gold. Optimism keeps them going.
Post a Comment
Read more

Always wanting something new

Every time I take a few days off from my blog my ratings slump.  Very rarely do people go back into my old posts and read again.  This is a typical attitude of the human heart, always wanting something different.  At this time of year we should not be greedily wondering want new thing we will be getting for Christmas.  Instead we should be looking at the old, old story, which is ever new of a baby who amazingly was God incarnate, God's gift to those who will put there trust in this one who was to grow up to give His life for His people.  Set aside the controversy over whether December 25th is the actual date of His birth.(Shepherds do not keep their sheep out at night in Israel in December.) and set aside time to think about the fact that He did come and ponder if He came to set you free and if your answer is ,"Yes," He will make you free indeed.
Post a Comment
Read more